


Of Milk and Cookies

by GwenBrightly



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, He's a lil gremlin but we love him, Lloyd's journey in finding his family, Nya and Lloyd bond while being left alone on the Bounty, also angst, sibling shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 42,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22993549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GwenBrightly/pseuds/GwenBrightly
Summary: Lloyd never imagined he'd find a family in the rag tag bunch of ninjas his uncle had assembled. But somehow, he did.
Relationships: Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Nya & Jay Walker & Zane
Comments: 12
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been up on ffnet and wattpad for awhile now, but I wanted to share it here as well, as this is the story that started it all for me. This set of oneshots about Lloyd finding his family in the ninja started out as a headcannon of mine – I've always thought that as the youngest members of the group, Nya and Lloyd are actually quite a bit closer than we see in the show itself. It's grown so much more than I imagined it would, so I hope you enjoy!

Lloyd woke with a start and sat up, temporarily confused by his unfamiliar surroundings. Through the darkness, he could barely make out the faint outlines of the wooden walls bordering the room and the bedroll beneath him. This definitely wasn’t the Anacondrai’s tomb, or even Darkley’s boarding school. Where on earth was he? And then, quite suddenly, the events of the previous day came rushing back to him as he collapsed back onto the bed and groaned. Pythor had pretended to be his friend – and then promptly betrayed him and stolen the map to the remaining snake dens.... Stupid Pythor! Stupid snakes! Why hadn’t anyone ever told him how despicably untrustworthy they were? Lloyd decided then and there that he hated snakes. He hated them with a burning passion. They could all go die in a hole for all he cared. Yes, that seemed reasonable.  
At least his uncle, Sensei Wu, had taken pity on him and brought him to stay on the Destiny’s Bounty. Not that Lloyd needed anyone’s pity. The son of the dark lord would have gotten himself out of that mess eventually. But here he was, aboard the flying ship anyway. He had to admit, the bedroll was decidedly more comfortable that sleeping on the ground like he had been doing the past few weeks. Maybe Lloyd was better off living with his uncle for a while, even if his students were a bit too goody-goody for his taste. He still hadn’t forgiven them for humiliating him when they hung him from that sign post – it had taken days to rid himself of the stench of rotten vegetable - or for destroying his super cool treehouse. Lloyd smirked, already thinking of ways he could get back at the ninja. Pranks were his specialty. Living aboard the Bounty would totally give him lots of opportunities to get them back, and he wouldn’t even have to worry about food or shelter, because his uncle would insist on caring for him – temporarily, at least.  
Suddenly, Lloyd felt himself involuntarily flinch at a noise that sounded to him like a cross between a dying pterodactyl and a groan. Was it just the creaking of the old ship’s walls, or had some sort of monster managed to sneak aboard the ship, ready to devour them all at the drop of a hat?! Now wide awake, Lloyd found himself missing the dormitories of Darkley’s Boarding School. At least there, mysterious late-night noises could be explained away as the prank of some incorrigible child, ripe with motivation to torture some unsuspecting fellow student – usually him. Though annoying and generally inconvenient, he had rarely had a reason be truly concerned when he heard some form of racket. He was used to being the target of pranks and other forms of questionable behavior, after all. Here however, unfamiliar noises could be anything. Sure, it was certainly unlikely that some sort of creature was about to kill everyone in their sleep, but Lloyd had no way of knowing for sure. Refusing to stay in the dark room with the spooky noises and vaguely threatening shadows any longer – No, he wasn’t afraid – and knowing that sleep would be impossible at this point, Lloyd sighed and climbed out of bed. Maybe a snack would help. He had seen the kitchen earlier during a brief tour, and sugar always made him feel better.  
Quietly, Lloyd slipped from his room and crept down the darkened hall to the kitchen. Arriving at his destination, he began rummaging through the cupboards. Nothing. Surely the Ninja kept something sugary on hand. Where else would Jay get his seemingly endless supply of energy? No, there had to be sugar somewhere. It was just a matter of finding it, and there was no way Lloyd was going back to bed without fulfilling his craving for something sweet. He continued to scour the cupboards for any sign of sugary goodness, but all he could find were pots, pans, and some strong-smelling cleaning spray better described as an instant migraine. Lloyd growled quietly in frustration. With his luck, he’d never find his quarry. It was probably on a shelf too high for him to reach… As he continued to ponder his unfair existence, another figure moved through the shadowy halls, interrupting his search.  
“Lloyd? What are you doing in the kitchen at this time of night?” Lloyd responded to this question by jumping several feet into the air, momentarily convinced that the monster of his earlier fears was finally making an appearance. He turned around, only to find that the source of the voice was in fact, not a monster, but the Destiny’s Bounty’s only female resident – Nya? Yes, that seemed right- instead.  
“What are you doing in the kitchen so late?” he retorted, ever so eloquently. Nya rolled her eyes before responding.  
“I asked first, but if you must know, I was thirsty, so I was gonna get some water. Unless, of course, you’ got a problem with that?”  
“Er… No. Carry on.” Lloyd mumbled, still not quite sure how to respond to the teen’s presence. Now over his initial shock at her appearance, he turned back to the cupboards and began a renewed search for sugar. Nya crossed to the sink, got herself a glass, and filled it with water before speaking again.  
“So…. You gonna tell me what you’re doing up so late, or am I supposed to let you suffer in silence?”  
“Oh. Uh. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought, ‘Hey, there’s gotta be some sugar around here somewhere. Sugar sounds really good right about now…’. But apparently, you people don’t believe in keeping your food stashed in places where it can actually be enjoyed…” Lloyd said, not wanting to meet her eyes, not wanted her to notice his unease. Nya bit back a laugh, struggling to see how this sugar obsessed child could be the same person that released the Serpentine. However, she had not failed to notice the wild look in his eyes when she first entered the kitchen. Thinking back to the first night she and her brother had spent at the Monastery of Spinjitzu, and later, the first night aboard the Bounty, she began to piece together the deeper motivation behind Lloyd’s sugar craving.  
“Lloyd, you’re not homesick… Are you?” she asked.  
“No! I’m not homesick! Lloyd Garmadon doesn’t get homesick!” He sputtered defensively, “And I’ve never had a home. How could I miss something that I’ve never had?”  
Wow, that’s actually really depressing, Nya thought. Obviously, she was going to have to be the one to extend the olive branch of understanding during this conversation. Master Wu had asked all of them to make an effort to be understanding of the boy, and unlike her brother and his fellow ninja, she was actually willing to put in the effort. Small boys shouldn’t be running about with snakes, anyway. There had been nowhere else for him to go – not if his boarding school had kicked him out like he’d claimed. They’d just have to work on making the kid realize that there was more to life than candy and pranks. And so, she chose to continue the conversation.  
“No. Of course you’re not homesick,” Nya nodded in agreement, “that would be ridiculous! I don’t even know why I would ask such a stupid question.”  
She thought she saw a glimmer of relief cross Lloyd’s face. Good. If she could keep him talking, maybe he’d calm down a little. She pretended to think for a moment before beckoning Lloyd closer, as if she were about to tell him a major secret.  
“You know, when we first came to live on the Bounty, Kai and Jay both thought it was haunted… All of the weird creaks and groans of the old wood freaked them out. They stayed awake all night once, trying to catch this ‘ghost,’ before Zane finally managed to convince them that there was nothing to worry about.” Nya whispered in a conspiratorial voice, “I think they were both actually more homesick than scared. It can be hard to adjust to new places sometimes.”  
Man. How on earth could Nya possibly know that all the strange noises had freaked him out so much? Lloyd wondered. Clearly she was more perceptive than he would have given her credit for. Not that he’d ever tell her the truth. He barely even knew her and he had to keep some semblance of dignity, even if it was super late and he didn’t really feel like keeping up his bad boy persona.  
“Wow. I guess even the ‘strong and mighty’ ninja have their moments of weakness…” He commented.  
“Yeah. But that’s okay. It’s part of what makes us human.”  
“If you say so… Now about that sugar…” Nya bit back a smile. Her strategy was working. Heading towards the refrigerator, she pulled out a jug milk and set it on the table. Nya filled a glass and handed it to Lloyd, prompting him to question her actions.  
“Uh… Nya, what are you doing? You do realize that milk doesn’t contain sugar, right?”  
Stretching to reach into a cupboard that had been too high for Lloyd to explore, Nya responded to his question.  
“Just gimme a second.” She continued rummaging, “What you need is a good old-fashioned welcome aboard if you’re gonna keep living on the Bounty with us…. Aha! I knew they were in here somewhere…” Confused, Lloyd stared at her before finally seeing what she had been after. Cookies. Real, actual cookies, complete with real, actual sugar! She held out a few, which he gladly accepted. Holding her glass of milk in one hand, and a cookie in the other, Nya began to speak.  
“I propose a toast to the newest member of the crew of the illustrious Destiny’s Bounty!” Smiling, Lloyd and Nya clinked glasses.  
“May your time here be filled with plenty of adventures-” Unable to help himself, Lloyd interrupted.  
“And lots of candy!” Nya rolled her eyes again before continuing.  
“Fine. May you find lots of candy and never get sick from eating to much of it in one go,” They began to laugh at the absurdity of their toast, enjoying the remaining cookies and milk.  
“You’re really not that bad of a kid, Lloyd.” Nya acknowledged.  
“Thanks, but don’t go ruining my reputation now. The son of the dark lord’s gotta be at least a little bad sometimes…” He replied with a yawn. Knowing that he probably wouldn’t admit to being tired, Nya decided to give him an out. After all, it was close to 3:00 in the morning.  
“Well… As much as I have enjoyed these delicious milk and cookies, I have stuff to do tomorrow. Better get some sleep, you know?”  
“Yeah… Me too. Wouldn’t want to miss watching the ninja fall on their butts tomorrow during their training, or anything like that.” Lloyd said, heading for the door.  
“Hey, Nya?”  
“Yes, Lloyd?”  
“Thanks for the cookies. If I had actually been homesick, which I totally wasn’t, what you said would definitely have helped.”  
“Anytime, Lloyd.” Nya answered with a smile, exiting the kitchen and starting down the hall. Lloyd followed her example, returning to the room he was supposed to be staying in. For some reason, the creaking sounds no longer bothered him. There definitely weren’t any monsters hiding in dark corners waiting to eat him. Smiling, he snuggled under the blankets on his bedroll. Somehow, Lloyd was confident that he’d have no trouble falling back asleep.


	2. Broken Teapot

Lloyd stared guiltily at the pile of broken porcelain that lay at his feet. No amount of glue was going to fix the mess he had just made. There were far, far too many pieces for that, and he didn’t even know where to find glue in the first place. Lloyd hadn’t meant to break his uncle’s favorite teapot; it had simply been too close to the edge of the counter. By the time he had noticed the teapot’s precarious position as he reached for a clean glass, it was already too late – his arm brushed against it, sending it toppling to the kitchen floor with a crash. This was bad. Really, really bad. After his behavior the past few weeks, no one would believe that it had been an accident – and he couldn’t really blame them. It had been pretty awful of Lloyd to release the Serpentine like that. He knew he probably wasn’t a very likeable person at the moment.   
Though he wasn’t completely sure he liked the idea of giving up all of his less than honorable habits, he had really been hoping that the ninja would let him stay with them a bit longer. Nya had actually been super nice to him a few nights ago when he couldn’t sleep, even if he didn’t plan on ever admitting it, and Zane’s cooking was quite possibly the best food he’d ever eaten. But…. When the ninja returned from their outing, they would not be happy with him. And from his experience, when people got angry, it never ended well for him. Numerous encounters with being locked in dark closets or having the living daylights knocked out of him by his more brutish classmates at Darkley’s had taught him that angry people were dangerous people. Sooner or later, everyone was going to get tired of dealing with the inconveniences his presence brought. It was only a matter of time before he messed up again - and then… And then, they’d probably make him leave before he could cause any further damage…. Maybe it would be better if he saved himself the heartache and left before that could happen… As much as he hated to consider it, Lloyd didn’t think he could handle having to face his uncle. Not when he knew how little everyone thought of him already. He had seen the way they looked at him, the whispered conversations he knew the ninja must have when they thought he couldn’t hear them. Mind made up, Lloyd fled the kitchen, praying that he could make his escape before Nya discovered his blunder.  
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////  
Nya stopped fiddling with the control panel of the Bounty and glanced at the clock. It had been a good hour since she had last seen Lloyd. Where was he? Presumably in the kitchen devouring an unhealthy amount of junk food, but she should probably still go check on him. It wasn’t smart to leave that kid alone for too long. He had an impressive knack for getting himself into trouble. Sighing, she put down her tools – she’d have to finish her project later. As nice as it would be if the rest of the group made an effort to help keep an eye on Lloyd, she was on her own. When Nya reached the kitchen, Lloyd’s usual haunt, she was surprised to find him absent. Not absent, however, were the remains of one of Wu’s teapots. As much as she respected the elderly spinjitzu master, he really needed to be more careful with his tea making supplies. This was not the first time someone had broken one of his teapots, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. But, she realized, Lloyd most likely did not possess that knowledge. She should really find him and make sure he realized that it wasn’t a big deal – first though, the broken porcelain needed to be picked up. Preferably before her ‘brothers’ returned. She couldn’t very well risk having any of them stepping on it. Grabbing a broom from the corner of the kitchen, Nya swept the pieces into the dustpan and deposited them in the garbage. Now to find Lloyd.  
When Nya first reached the door that led to Lloyd’s bedroom, she was shocked to hear what sounded like crying emanating from within. Softly, she opened the door. Lloyd was too busy sobbing and stuffing random objects into a backpack he’d found to notice Nya enter the room. What exactly was he doing? Whatever it was, it didn’t look like the impending conversation was going to be very enjoyable. She stood in awkward silence for a few minutes, unsure how to handle the situation. Finally, Nya spoke, hoping that Lloyd would be receptive to her efforts to help.  
“Lloyd? Uh… What are you doing?” Lloyd dropped the backpack in surprise. Attempting to smear the tears from his face, he slowly turned around. Eyes red and puffy. This was far worse than Nya had originally thought. Lloyd knew she would force the truth out of him eventually, just as she had that night in the kitchen, so he didn’t even bother attempting to lie to her.  
“I… I’m leaving. There’s no reason for me to stay on the Bounty any longer…”   
“Leave?” Nya asked, shocked. If this was about the teapot he was definitely overreacting.  
“You can’t just leave!” Lloyd bit his lip and bent over to pick up the backpack.  
“Yes, I can. You guys don’t want me here anyway!” Okay, so this definitely wasn’t about the teapot. At least, not completely. Nya moved to block the door as Lloyd attempted to make his exit.  
“What? That’s not true!” she insisted, hoping she was right. She was going to have a long talk with the ninja about making Lloyd feel more welcome later. For now, however, she needed to focus on ensuring that Lloyd didn’t actually go through with his attempt to run away.   
“How can you be so sure? You have no idea what it feels like to be seen only as an inconvenience. To never be able to trust someone, because the second you do,” Lloyd hadn’t intended to stay that out loud, but it was too late; the words he had been thinking for so long poured out anyway. His voice cracked as he tried to shove past Nya. She didn’t budge.  
“They’ll only let you down. They’ll say they care, but then… but then… they leave you and never come back. Or they kick you out of the only place you’d ever come even close to considering a home because you don’t fit in!” No longer able to face Nya, Lloyd turned away, furiously rubbing more tears from his eyes. Oh. Oh, dear. … Why had Nya never stopped to think about the pain growing up as the son of the dark lord must have caused Lloyd? Of course he would have some trust issues. Her heart broke into a million tiny pieces. She knew then and there that regardless of the fact that she might not completely trust him, and regardless of the fact that he probably didn’t want her help, she was going to make sure Lloyd was never abandoned again. No matter what it took. No matter how long it took her to gain his trust. Nya put her hand on his shoulder.  
“Lloyd, while I have no idea what all you’ve been through, I do know that no one on this ship would ever even think about dropping you off somewhere and never coming back. Ever.” He glanced at her for a second, the pain in his eyes obvious.  
“Why? I’ve never met my dad, my mom didn’t want me. Heck, even Darkley’s got tired of me eventually. Why would you be any different?”   
“Because, Lloyd, not everyone in the world is out to get you. When I look at you, I don’t see a nuisance. I don’t see the child of lord Garmadon. I see a child who has been forced to endure some pretty terrible things. Someone who has the potential to be a really great kid if someone is actually willing to get them a chance. And I know the others will too, given time. You. Are. Not. Unwanted.” The tears seemed to be flowing more freely now.  
“If anyone on the Bounty ever tries to make you leave when you don’t want to, they’ll have to make me leave too. I’m not giving up on you, Lloyd Garmadon…” To Nya’s surprise, she suddenly found the small boy hugging her, still sobbing. He seemed so impossibly small, so broken. Knowing how badly he needed to be comforted, she returned the hug.   
“Sh… it’s gonna be alright. Just let it all out.” More sobbing, “ Deep breaths, okay?”   
They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Nya patting Lloyd’s back as he let out all the pain he had been dealing with for who knew how long. Eventually, the sobs began to slow. He lifted his face, face still streaked with tears.  
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”  
“Lloyd, you have nothing to apologize for. Sensei always says that the past is in the past, and I’m inclined to agree with him on that. And besides, you obviously needed to work through some things…” Nya gave Lloyd and encouraging smile, which he returned.  
“Yeah. I guess I did.”  
“Next time you’re struggling like that, please find someone to talk to about it. It’s okay to be hurting but bottling up your emotions isn’t very healthy. Your judgement skills go out the window, and before you know it, you’re doing something you’ll regret.” Lloyd was quiet for a moment.  
“Like running away?”  
“Uh huh. Promise you won’t do that again?” He nodded and then held out his pinkie. Nya held out hers too – a pinkie promise was good enough for her – and sealed the promise.  
“Good. Now let’s go get you cleaned up,” commented Nya as she guided Lloyd out of his room and towards the bathroom in search of some cleanex.


	3. Chapter 3

Nya watched as Lloyd eyed the plate of cookies on the kitchen table longingly. She had hoped that the promise of sugar would serve as a way of motivating the boy to eat more. Instead, it seemed only to serve as a distraction. It had been impossible to miss the way Lloyd scarfed down food as if it might be taken away at any moment, the way his clothes hung loosely from his frame. Living off of candy and garbage for several weeks had not been to Lloyd's advantage - and Nya planned to fix that.   
"Lloyd, we've talked about this. I'm not gonna let you have any of those cookies until you've eaten that sandwich." Lloyd sighed. Over the past few days, after the incident with the teapot, he had noticed a change in the way the residents of the Destiny's Bounty treated him. Uncle Wu had shown him where the extra teapots were kept and read to him each night before bed. Even the ninja, who had been quite against his presence to begin with, had been noticeably friendlier toward him. Although Lloyd appreciated the attention - to an extent - he was starting to get a little tired of the sudden change of lifestyle he was experiencing.  
"Are you sure I can just have one? I promise I'll still eat...Please? "  
"Look. I told you - you could have a cookie later, and you will, but you can’t live off of junk food alone. It's not healthy. You need real food." Lloyd rolled his eyes but stuffed a chunk of sandwich into his mouth.  
"Happy?"  
"It's a start. The sooner you finish the sandwich, the sooner you can have a cookie." knowing Nya was right, he continued eating. Satisfied, Nya turned back to the papers she had been poring over. Soon, she was lost in thought, lunch forgotten. Lloyd leaned over to get a better look.   
"What're those?" he asked. Nya glanced at him.   
"Oh. Uh. This one," she held up a paper, "is a map of Ninjago. And these other papers are mostly just lists of the most recent sightings of the serpentine. Now that Pythor has the map with the locations of the Serpentine tombs, we have to figure out how to stop him." Lloyd nodded, feeling a little ashamed.   
" I'm hoping that I can find some sort of pattern in the sightings that will give me a clue to what he's got planned. " having finished his sandwich, Lloyd reached for a cookie, then asked,   
" Can I help? I mean, it's kinda my fault Pythor has the map in the first place. "  
" Sure, I guess.” Nya handed him one of the papers.  
" You read off the locations and I'll mark them on the map. Some of the names are kinda hard to pronounce, so just ask if you're not sure... Who knows, if we make a ton of progress, I might be able steal some candy from the boys' stash or something – you probably shouldn’t tell them I said that…"   
////////////////  
The duo worked like that for several hours, waiting for the ninja to return from another venture to confront a group of Serpentine spotted in a nearby town. Perhaps they were getting close to a breakthrough, but they wouldn't find out anytime soon. The sound of beeping coming from the direction of the control room interrupted their work.   
"Sounds like we have some sort of message coming in. I better go check it out." Nya said, rushing out of the kitchen and into the control room. For a moment, Lloyd hesitated. Then, he followed her, stopping in the hallway when he heard Nya conversing with Kai's voice over the speakers.   
" No. Don't move him. Too risky. That might make it worse. Has Zane evaluated his injuries? We need to know what we’re up against." Lloyd couldn't make out the muffled response. What was going on? Had one of the ninja been hurt?   
"OK. Have him do that. He should be able to keep things under control for now. I'll have the Bounty there as soon as I can to pick you guys up. Try to stay calm. Love you!" Nya said before cutting off communication with her brother. She made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob. That wasn't a good sign. In the time Lloyd had spent with her, Nya had never even come close to crying.   
"Nya," he called softly. She didn't seem to hear. Lloyd walked closer and called her name again, louder. This time, she turned around, still dazed.   
"There was an accident while the guys were out fighting off serpentine a little while ago. Jay's gone down. It sounds bad... I... We..." she took a deep breath.   
"We need to get the Bounty over there and get him some medical care..."  
"Nya. Tell me what you need me to do. How can I help?" Lloyd found himself asking, wanting to be there for the person who had comforted him multiple times. Nya finally snapped to action, giving Lloyd orders as she began steering the Bounty towards its destination.  
"Lloyd. Listen carefully. I need you to grab some extra sheets and some of those boards we keep in the store room for repairs. We're probably gonna have to make a stretcher to transport Jay with. They might be a little heavy for you, but I need to stay here and drive, otherwise I'd help." Lloyd dashed off to find the aforementioned items. The boards were heavy. Lloyd struggled to carry them, but his desire to help the people who had given him a home outweighed the aching of his arms. He returned to the control room just as Nya landed the flying ship. She grabbed the boards as they wordlessly raced above deck.  
Below, they could Cole frantically waving and shouting at them. The world seemed to slow down around them as Lloyd followed his friend off of the ship. He had never seen the ninja of earth look so distressed. As they drew closer, he noticed the wild look in Kai's eyes, the way Zane paced back and forth. And then, he caught a glimpse of Jay lying on the ground, face covered with blood - and immediately wished he'd stayed back the bounty. That was one nasty gash he had on his forehead. Was it normal for there to be so much blood? What would happen if Nya’s first aid knowledge wasn’t enough? Was there even a hospital nearby? Lloyd’s vision became blurry at the sight, and he felt himself sway. Thankfully, Nya noticed as the small boy beside her froze in horror. Knowing he could not handle the scene for much longer, she turned to him.   
"There's a first aid kit in the training room. It's in the bottom of that cupboard where we keep the sparring supplies. Can you grab it and meet us in the sickbay?" Lloyd looked at her gratefully before taking off again.  
////////////////////////  
Kai stood outside of the storage room they’d turned into an infirmary in case of emergencies, annoyed that his sister had banned him from helping further with Jay’s care. It was his fault this had happened. He should have been paying more attention to his team mates – they were supposed to look out for each other. Maybe then he could’ve prevented Jay from being thrown into that wall. And none of them would be in this situation – Jay with his bloody head wound, and the rest of the ninja having to bear witness to the unfortunate event. Nya and Zane wouldn’t be in the other room attempting to fix this mess. Kai wouldn’t have been freaking out to the point that he was asked to leave – a decision that had taken Nya less than 5 minutes to make. Where was Lloyd? They would make a lot more progress once they had the right tools.   
Kai's inner dialog was ended when Lloyd finally appeared. He held his hand out to take the kit.  
"Here, kid. I'll take this in. You don't need to see Jay like this." the boy looked at him uncertainly.  
"But I -" Kai sighed, remembering what Nya had told him about his trust issues. Lloyd might be a pain, but he was still just a child - and one who had experienced enough trauma already.   
"Look. I saw how you responded to the situation earlier. You're not gonna be able to deal with this right now. Give me that first aid kit. You can wait out here." Lloyd relented, handing Kai the kit, still a little unsure. Kai slipped quietly into the infirmary. Inside, things were much the same as when he had departed. Jay was situated on a cushioned shelf against one wall. Nya and Zane spoke in hushed tones while applying pressure to the wound on Jay’s head. His sister looked up when she heard the door shut behind him.   
“That’s a relief. I was hoping that first aid kit would show up soon.” Kai walked over to her and set the kit down.  
“So…How bad…?”  
“He definitely needs stitches. We’re hopeful that it isn’t as bad as it looks – no hospital visits this time.” Came the response. Kai nodded.   
“I know you said earlier that I was stressing you out too much, but is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.  
“I’d still prefer that you leave those of us with first aid training alone while we handle this. I already sent Cole to find Sensei, so hopefully they’ll be back in a little while. Right now, it would be much more helpful if you could go keep an eye on Lloyd. Maybe go play some video games with him or something?” Kai wanted to protest, but the look on Nya’s face told him that would be a bad idea. He had already had one conversation with his sister about his (and the other ninja’s) relationship with Lloyd. While he had been shocked to discover that the small boy had attempted to run away, Kai wasn’t certain he wanted to spend that much quality time with him. The two had never really seen eye to eye. Still, Nya was right. Lloyd needed someone to watch over him.  
“Fine. As long as you come get me as soon as you find out more.” He commented, heading for the door.  
“Of course.” Nya told him, already digging through the first aid kit. “Now, there should be a needle in here somewhere...”   
Knowing that the conversation was now over, Kai exited the control room. Lloyd was just outside the door, sitting on the floor. Waiting. He was clearly worried about the blue ninja’s health. Something that Kai would not have expected of him a week ago. The too small, pale boy before him had certainly changed since coming to live with them.  
“Hey. It looks like the others are gonna be busy for awhile. What do you say to a round or two of Fist to Face?” Kai asked. The look on Lloyd’s face brightened slightly, but then turned to skepticism.  
“Really? You’re sure you want to play with me?”  
“Might as well. There’s not a whole lot else I can do right now. Nya and Zane won’t let me help them, so…” He shrugged and pulled Lloyd to his feet. The two made their way to the TV room. Kai turned on the TV and plugged in the gaming system.  
“I hope you’re prepared to lose, cause you’re up against a master.” He said as the main menu appeared in the screen.  
‘You’re on!” Lloyd replied.   
Some time later, as the two bonded over video games, Cole appeared, ready to give them an update. If he noticed the way they laughed together, attempting to shove each other off the couch while arguing over who had technically won the last round, he didn’t mention it.  
“Hey guys. Nya and Zane wanted me to let you know that they were able to complete Jay’s stitches without any problems. They’re pretty sure he has a concussion, so he’ll be out of commission for a few days, but that’s better than we had previously thought. He’s resting now – Nya’s orders.” Kai and Lloyd glanced at each other, almost disappointed to be interrupted.  
“Good. It’s a relief to know that he’ll be ok. Not that I was worried or anything…” Kai said eventually. He tossed his controller aside.  
“I think I’m gonna go check in with the others and make sure they don’t need anything,” Kai looked over his shoulder at Lloyd, “You’ coming?”  
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////  
Nya sat curled up on her chair, scribbled furiously in a sketchbook. After what had happened today, she knew she needed to find a way to protect her little family more effectively. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before someone received more than a concussion. That was not something she was prepared to live with. Which was why she was currently working on a project that would provide backup in the event of future run ins with the serpentine. She had to get this right. There was no other option. Not unless she wanted to risk becoming an only child - or worse. In order for it to work, however, she'd have to keep it a secret. There was no telling what the others would do if they found out about her plan. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening forced Nya to look up from her work.  
"Hey, Nya. Kai said you were gonna be up for a while, so I thought I’d bring you a snack." Lloyd declared, holding out a plate of cookies.  
"Hey. Yeah, Jay's got a concussion, which means that someone has to wake him up every few hours and make sure he's not brain dead or anything. I offered to take first watch." Nya reached for a cookie.  
"Not that I'm complaining, but you seriously couldn't find something healthier than cookies to bring me?"  
"Well... Kai told me I wasn't allowed to use the stove. Or the microwave, and this was the only thing I could find that didn't need to be heated up. I guess he thought I'd burn the ship down or something."  
"Eh. Probably a good call. Come sit." She said, patting the chair next to her.  
"What are you drawing? Is it some sort of robot? " Lloyd asked, catching sight of the sketch pad. Nya shut it quickly before responding.  
"Just an idea for a project I'm working on. It might help keep all of us a little safer. But I'm not really ready to share it quite yet. I don't even know if it's going to work."  
"Nya, I don't think you have anything to worry about. You're super smart about stuff like this. You'll figure it out." The way Lloyd looked at her as he said that made her heart melt. This child was far too innocent for everything life had thrown at him.  
"Thanks. That means a lot. Now gimme some more of those cookies." He giggled but did as he was told. By the time Nya finally sent him to bed, the entire plate of cookies had long since been devoured. Lloyd gushed over how cool Kai was and how he'd finally managed to beat him during a round of Fist to Face. Nya shared embarrassing stories about her brother, making both of them laugh long into the night. It was a wonder they didn't wake Jay. She was glad to see that the child was beginning to grow closer to the others, but as Lloyd's yawns grew more obvious, Nya knew she needed to end their fun. Sending him off to sleep, she got back to work on her project. Now, what color scheme would be best for the mech? Red, perhaps?


	4. Chapter 4

The honorable knight Rodger had finally succeeded in rescuing his beloved princess Lucinda from the clutches of her evil twin Lupita, queen of the pirates. He had escaped an arranged marriage, crossed the deadly ocean, and battled horrifying sea monsters before ultimately arriving at Pirate’s Cove. Following an epic battle between antagonist and protagonist, they were now free to embark on their honeymoon to Norway – at least, Lloyd was pretty sure that’s where they were headed. On the other hand, it could’ve been Normandy. And the sea monster might have been a sock puppet … That part was still a little unclear. To be perfectly honest, he was rather lost as to what was actually going on in the TV show he was currently being forced to watch. Lloyd had come to the TV room in the hopes that Kai would let him play video games again but had quickly discovered that Nya and Jay were already using the TV for other purposes. No matter, he would just have to wait a little while. Only, an hour later, the season finale of whatever show this was had yet to reach its climax. He wasn’t sure how much more of it he could take.   
“Sooo bored….” He groaned.  
“Yeah. How much longer before this ridiculous junk is over?” Kai agreed, looking up from his magazine, also quite ready to move on to something more exciting. And less mushy. The amount of kissing involved left him less than impressed.   
“Hey! I’ll have you know that Star-crossed Lovers is an extremely inspirational saga that helps me connect with my deeper emotions.” Cried Jay, irritated, “Also, it’s one of Nya’s favorites, so there!”  
“There’s no need to be so defensive, Jay. Everyone is entitled to their own individual interests and opinions.” Came Zane’s serene voice from the corner of the room. He was, of course, correct, but that didn’t stop Kai from continuing the debate. He wasn’t going to let Jay win that easily.  
“If this is Nya’s favorite show, then why did she fall asleep 20 minutes ago?” Sure enough, when Lloyd glanced at the couch, the female teen was very obviously not awake. Eyes shut, her head lulled to one side. Her neck was sure going to be sore when she woke up. Huh. Up until a few days ago, Nya hadn’t normally been one to take a nap in the middle of the day. He had noticed that she seemed a bit more tired lately (to the point of nearly falling asleep during dinner the previous night) but hadn’t thought much of it until now.   
“Oh gosh, now I feel guilty. She’s really missing out. How could I not have noticed…” Jay whispered, looking panicked. He had alerted Nya to the airing of the season finale of the show specifically as an excuse to spend time with her. Now, it seemed he had become too engrossed in the story to actually do so.  
“Calm down, buddy. She’ll just have to catch the rerun later.” Cole consoled. Kai and Lloyd groaned, equally unimpressed with the idea of having to endure the torture a second time. How nice it was to know that at least one of those ‘goody goody’ ninja – though he had begun to see them in a much more positive light – agreed with him on something. Why anyone would willingly watch this was beyond his understanding. Lloyd much preferred Cliff Gordon’s movies, in which the plot made sense and there was much less romance.   
“Perhaps we should wake her and make sure she is well. It is unlike Nya to fall asleep like this. She might be more comfortable in her room.” Suggested Zane. Ah. So Lloyd wasn’t the only person who found this unusual.   
Warily, for he did not wish to deal with a grumpy momma bear when she awoke, Jay nudged his crush’s shoulder and called her name softly. Nothing happened.  
“Well, my sister has always been a sound sleeper…” Commented Kai, “You’re gonna have to be way more forceful than that if you want her to wake up.” Jay got up and backed away from the couch. He was not willing to ruin his chances with her over her need for sleep.  
“Hey! I am not a human shield!” Lloyd exclaimed as Jay tried to hide behind him. Maybe it would be better if they just left Nya alone. Just as Lloyd was about to suggest this to the others, Kai decided that his sister had slept for long enough. Getting up and crossing to the couch, he leaned close to Nya’s head and shouted loudly into her ear. She shot several feet into the air before somehow managing to land upright, obviously very confused.  
“Wazgoingon?!”  
“Relax, sis. You fell asleep. We were just trying to wake you up.” Kai laughed. Nya rubbed her eyes and glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, the ninja of fire would be dead.   
“You know how much I hate it when you do that.” She turned to the rest of the group, yawning, “And I can’t believe all of you just stood by and let him scream in my ear! I should be allowed to sleep in peace if I so choose.”   
“Sorry, Nya.”   
“Yeah, sorry.” Came the chorus of apologies.   
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. I might as well go grab some snacks. You guys want anything?” She asked, heading for the door.   
“Nya, if you are truly that tired, you may want to consider going to bed early tonight.” Zane commented.   
“I’m fine, really. I guess I just stayed up too late reading last night. It won’t happen again.” With that, Nya exited the room.  
/////////  
Nya wasn’t entirely sure why she had allowed herself to stop working on her project long enough to join Jay in the TV room. While ‘Star-crossed Lovers’ was definitely an enjoyable show, she didn’t really have several hours of her time to sacrifice. Perhaps it was her need to avoid arousing suspicion. Or her genuine liking of spending time with the hyperactive ninja of lightning. They had a lot on common, and it was always nice to converse with someone who actually shared her passion for machinery. And maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with how cute he looked when he smiled – even with the set of stitches marring the left side or his forehead. Whatever the case, she certainly hadn’t intended on falling asleep halfway through. That had been a complete accident – and a total disaster. Not embarrassing at all. Nope, she definitely wasn’t upset with her brother for making her freak out like that when everyone else was in the room. Though it was probably a good thing she was awake again. As soon as she had found something with enough sugar to keep her awake, she was going back to her room to keep working. If she was lucky, the mechanical samurai suite she had designed would be completed before anyone else could get hurt. Her…Jay had only just been released from bed rest. She couldn’t risk having anything else happen...  
Now, to find a snack. The cake in the refrigerator was off limits (thanks, Cole). Were there any cookies left over from Zane’s latest batch? They had to be there somewhere.  
“If you’re looking for the cookies, I think I saw Kai put them in the cupboard closest to the fridge.” Came a voice from somewhere behind Nya.  
“Lloyd. I’m perfectly capable of finding them myself.” She said as she indignantly checked the suggested location, “Thanks, though.”  
“You’re welcome. Are you sure you’re OK?”  
“Yes. I’m positive.” Cookies within reach, Nya grabbed a glass and pulled out the milk. As she began pouring it, Lloyd spoke again, pointing.  
“Uh huh. I hate to break it to you, but you’re totally not okay. You’re literally pouring milk onto the counter instead of into your cup.” Nya looked down. Oops. Well, this day just kept getting better and better. She groaned and buried her face in her hands, milk forgotten.  
“Sooo….” Lloyd started slowly, “You gonna tell me what’s up, or am I supposed to let you suffer in silence?” At the sound of the familiar words, Nya looked up.  
“I guess I have been a little tired lately…”  
“A little tired? That’s the understatement of the century. You nearly fell asleep during dinner yesterday, and well… I think the milk pretty much sums up today.” Had her exhaustion really been that obvious? Darn. She was going to have to take even more precautions now.  
“I don’t think the others have noticed yet, but I have. You’re not yourself. I’ve barely seen you out of your room in days. And I would know because I’m the only other person here most of the time.” He continued. Had she really spent that much time locked away?  
“It’s like, ever since Jay’s accident, you barely have time for anyone else.” Suddenly, it all made sense.  
“Oooh. This has to do with that drawing you wouldn’t let me see... Doesn’t it?” Nya paled slightly.  
“Why… Why would you think that?” He rolled his eyes.  
“Come on. Don’t even try to lie. I’ll just bug you about it until you give in. You know I will!” Knowing this wasn’t an empty threat, the girl relented.  
“Fine. Maybe it does have to do with that. Maybe I’m worried that someone else will get hurt, so maybe I decided to build something that will allow me to be there to protect them. And maybe, I’m scared that if I don’t finish it soon, something horrible will happen, so I’ve been staying up super late every night trying to work on it.” She snapped, visibly stressed. Lloyd patted her shoulder awkwardly, still not great at the whole offering comfort thing.   
“Okaaay. So why didn’t you tell any of us about this? You shouldn’t be worrying about this all by yourself. You’d never let me do that. And I’m sure Jay would love to help. You should see the goo goo eyes he makes at you when he thinks you’re not looking. It’s so gross…” Nya sighed. Was she really discussing her love life with a pre teen boy?   
“That’s exactly the problem – not the grossness, the other part. I know he cares about me enough that he’d do pretty much anything for me. But if he realized that I want to be out there fighting with everyone else, which I do, he wouldn’t let me go. He’d want to keep me safe, and so would the rest of the team. Especially my brother. You have no idea what Kai is like when he gets overprotective. He raised me, and I love him to death, but he can’t find out about this.” She said tiredly. Lloyd crossed his arms, looking surprisingly mature.  
“You still need to rest sometimes. Have you seen the bags under your eyes? They’re super ugly.”  
“Thank you SO much, Lloyd. “  
“I’m serious. Sleeping almost always make me feel better. Or sugar. Sugar’s good too… “  
"I know, but, I really need to finish this..."  
"Yeah. And you can do that. Tomorrow." Lloyd said as he began pushing Nya towards the door, impressively strong for his size.  
"But-"  
"And I'm gonna help you with it, starting then."  
"Lloyd, you don't know anything about machines..."  
"I'm a fast learner! I haven’t almost caught the microwave on fire in close to a week.”   
“That’s not exactly an accomplishment.” Lloyd ignored her.   
“Beside, if you don't let me help, I'll be forced to tell everyone else exactly what you've been up to lately." He said, smirking casually, as if there was no underlying threat in his words.  
"Lloyd!" Nya exclaimed, but it was already too late. She knew it would be impossible to talk him out of his plan. He continued shoving her towards her room. She yawned. Maybe some rest would be beneficial after all…   
"I'll wake you up of anything important happens."  
"Promise?" She asked sleepily. He held out a pinky. She took it.  
"Promise. Now go to bed”


	5. Chapter 5

Nya slipped silently through her open window, still reeling from Samurai X’s first appearance. Being out in the field with the ninja was exhilarating, even if it hadn’t gone entirely as planned. She still wasn’t certain why she had drugged her friends – that had been some questionable judgement on her part, but hey – at least she had managed to get them out of the swamp alive. That counted for something. After all, helping to keep her brothers (and possibly others as well) safe had been the reason the mech suit was built to begin with. All the long hours of sneaking around, working on it where the others wouldn’t see and putting up with Lloyd’s constant questions and general cluelessness when it came to machines – She thought his lack of knowledge had been getting better, but his panicked voice pulling from her slumber earlier that day to help start a load of laundry after getting soap and water everywhere when he had tried to do so himself told her that he still had a ways to go- had finally come to fruition. Though, she would easily admit, she’d rather not see Kai high off of whatever nastiness he’d been exposed to again any time soon. That had not been pretty. 

If she were lucky, Nya thought as her feet made contact with the wooden floor inside and she began removing her armor, no one would have noticed her absence. She certainly couldn’t afford to have anyone discover her identity so soon, and she didn’t really have the energy to come up with a believable cover story. 

“So, how’d it go?” A voice asked from the darkened interior of her room. Startled, Nya made her way to the light switch. Who could possibly know what she’d been up to? Failure to keep her secret was not an option. Nya hated failure. As the lights flickered on, she realized how silly it was for her to worry. There, on her bed with a tray of cookies and two glasses of milk, sat Lloyd, acting as if it were the most normal thing in the world for him to be there. Nya smiled. She should have known he would do something like this. 

“Operation Samurai is a go.” Lloyd returned her smile. 

“Awesome…” They each grabbed a cookie, “Now, I want all the details… Don’t you dare leave anything out.” And so, Nya eagerly began describing her adventure to a very fascinated Lloyd. 

“And then, Kai mistook me for Santa… “ 

“Seriously? That’s so random.” 

“Yeah… Still not sure why the Venomari spit made him hallucinate Christmas stuff of all things. Gonna have to ask him about that someday.” Lloyd nodded agreement, “So, what happened next?” 

“Well… Zane walked up to me and wanted to talk, but I sorta panicked and…” Nya looked a little sheepish, “I shot him and the rest of the ninja with knockout gas…” 

“Wow, Nya! I didn’t know you had it in you…” 

“Me neither. But hopefully I don’t have to do that again anytime soon.” 

“I guess.. It must’ve been awfully cool though.” Nya was about to agree with Lloyd, when someone knocked on her door. Glancing around the room, she grabbed the nearest book from her bedside table. 

“Come in.” Jay opened the door and stuck his head into the room, seemingly recovered from his exposure to chloroform. 

“Nya, Zane wanted me to tell you that dinner was ready.” Seeing Lloyd, he added, “Oh, hey Lloyd. What are you doing in here?” The boy glanced over at him, trying to act casually, while Nya answered the question. 

“Oh, you know, just reading. We got bored while you were gone, so I figured, why not spend some time enjoying a good book…” Jay stepped into the doorway, noticing the title of the book. 

“And you thought ‘Advanced Philosophy of Mechanics’ was a good book to read out loud to a ten year old?” He asked, eyebrows raised. 

“Actually, I’m almost eleven. My birthday’s in a few months…” Lloyd replied, ever so innocently. 

“Fine. Still. Interesting choice if you ask me.” 

“Well… I mean, why not? You’ve seen what happens when Lloyd tries to use the microwave, or anything else, for that matter. We had to start somewhere…” Lloyd looked defensive. Nya tried to send him a look of apology, which seemed to quell his irritation. 

Shuddering as he pictured the aftermath of certain incidents involving said microwave, Jay shrugged. 

“ Can’t argue with that logic. It’s about time somebody taught you how to use that thing properly, kid.” Awkwardly leaning against the wall – probably trying to look cool, but failing – he added, 

“You know Nya, if you ever need help teaching Lloyd about the joys of technology, I have been known to be quite the mechanic. Have I ever told you guys about that pair of hang glider wings I built?” Lloyd and Nya glanced at each other, trying not to laugh. 

“ I’m sure we’d love to hear all about it sometime… But didn’t you say dinner was ready? We don’t want to keep the others waiting… “ Nya finally replied. 

“You’re right…I know how much everyone loves Zane’s cooking… “ Jay commented as he turned towards the hall. Stopping momentarily, he added, 

“Oh, and… Kai ran into some pretty wicked Venomari spit earlier, so don’t be surprised if he acts like you’re a gingerbread man or something!” This thought made all of them laugh, though it was likely that the red ninja would be mortified once he realized what had been happening. 

“Sounds like you guys had an eventful mission. See you in a few minutes.” She called, watching him leave. 

“Well, I guess we should probably go get some food, huh?” Nya added, turning to her young protégé. Lloyd sighed, clearly not ready to join the others. 

“Probably. I can’t believe Jay fell for that, though.” Nya smiled. 

“Well, you do have some issues when it comes to the microwave…” 

“Hey!” The small boy cried as he attempted to shove her off the bed – unsuccessfully. She responded by hitting him with a pillow. 

“If you’re gonna insult my microwave skills. Maybe I should start talking about how much Jay loooves you!” Giggled Lloyd. Whump. Another pillow hit him in the face. Nya really did have excellent aim. 

“Quiet, you. Now we really should get going before Jay comes back…” Lloyd stopped his attack, digging in his pocket for something. 

“Yeah. But first, I almost forgot…” He held out a piece of paper, “I got super bored earlier after everyone left, so… I made you this…” Nya accepted the offering. It was a had drawn picture of 7 figures standing on the deck of a ship. She knew immediately who it was supposed to be. It was something she’d carry with her for years to come. 

“Lloyd. This is so thoughtful of you…” 

“This is gonna sound super lame and stuff, but…” Lloyd took a deep breath, “Youguysaremyfamily.” Another deep breath, “You’re all so awesome… And courageous. And… And, you looked after me when no one else wanted to, even though I’ve kinda been a pain in the butt about it…I don’t have any real brothers or sisters, but if I did, I’d want them to be just like you…” Nya was quiet for a moment. Was something wrong? Had he overstepped some unspoken boundary with the gift? But then, she hugged him, and he realized that she wasn’t upset with him at all. In fact, quite the opposite seemed true. 

“ For the record Lloyd, I think you were already a part of this family… You’ve been like the annoying younger brother I never had ever since you first got here. I know that you have a lot of trust issues and that sometimes you feel unwanted, but it means a lot to me that you’ve reached to point that you would make something like this… “ he didn’t reply. Couldn’t trust his voice to function properly. Only able to return the hug. This was what having a family was supposed to be like, wasn’t it? Lloyd found that he quite liked it. Eventually, they made there way to the dining room, where the others were loudly discussing conspiracy theories about who exactly hid behind Samurai X’s mask. Only Nya and Lloyd knew just how wrong they were.


	6. Chapter 6

Nya stared at the drawing Lloyd had lovingly made for her only days ago, hands trembling. How on earth could Kai have possibly thought that leaving Lloyd at that arcade – by himself no less- was a good idea? He could be anywhere. Doing anything. And none of them would even know. What if he were lying in a ditch somewhere, bleeding out? What if one of their many, many enemies had kidnapped him? What if he had done something stupid and gotten himself arrested? What if-  
“Don’t worry, sis. We’ll find him.” The girl glowered at her brother, not finding his words particularly comforting.  
“Don’t worry?! Don’t worry…. Kai, do you have any idea how much of an idiot you are? You’re standing here telling me not to worry, when all of this could have been avoided had you simply done your job and watched Lloyd yourself instead of ditching him! Why, I oughta-” Her attempt to punch her brother was interrupted by a pair of hands grabbing her own. Stupid Kai – getting in the way of her fists! He deserved far worse than being punched.   
“I know you’re upset. And I feel like such an jerk for leaving him like that, but guess what – standing here and letting you beat me up is not going to bring him back. Please. Save this for after we’ve found him.” The look of pain in Kai’s eyes told Nya that he was right… Fighting wouldn’t solve anything. She sighed and breathed deeply.  
“I… You’re absolutely right. This isn’t helping. It’s just… Kai,” She sobbed, holding up the drawing, “we’re the only family he’s got… And just when he’s finally reached the point where he feels safe enough to admit that, we’ve gone and lost him. What if we can’t bring him back? How can we live with knowing we failed him?” Though she was clearly trying to sound strong, Kai was pretty sure he could hear his sister’s voice cracking when she spoke. He couldn’t blame her. Lloyd had come to mean a lot to all of them, no matter how annoying he could be. Choosing to leave the boy at that arcade had been a huge mistake.  
“It won’t come to that.” Kai promised, placing his arms around Nya protectively. She stayed quiet for a moment, appreciating the gesture.   
“I really hope so. Or you are dead to me. So dead. I won’t hesitate to disown you…” She mumbled into his shoulder.  
“Well, guess I better head out and start looking then… We can’t have you getting rid of your, favorite brother, now can we?”  
“I suppose that would be a tragedy. I’ll head out in a few minutes. The more people we have looking, the faster we’ll find him.” Kai shot Nya a worried look.  
“You sure you’ll be OK on your own? I can go with you, or, you know, Jay would be more than happy to stick around…” She smiled weakly.  
“I’ll be fine. You go ahead. Just text me if you find anything…”  
“If you’re sure…” Kai gave her another squeeze before seeking out the rest of his team. Nya looked at the slightly crumpled (she needed to remember to laminate it once everything calmed down again) drawing one last time. Her samurai suit was waiting, and she had work to do…  
\////////\////////\  
Captured – and with no one to blame, but himself. The cold, cramped cage made him feel unspeakably lonely. Lloyd had long ago given up fear that the Serpentine planned to cause him physical harm. No, it was much more likely that they intended to use him as bait to lure the ninja – and therefore the mysterious Samurai X – into a trap, or some such scheme. Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon wasn’t scared – he was miserable, cold, and hungry, but definitely not scared. Nya would come for him, even if no one else did. Of that he was certain. And when she arrived, those stupid snakes were in for it! She wouldn’t let them off without a serious beating. One that they’d never forget. But first, she had to find him. And that might be a problem, because, he hadn’t exactly told anyone where he was going, and he certainly didn’t have a way to tell them now. Oh, how he wished he had thought his plan through instead of moving forward with reckless abandon. Lloyd missed the safe comfort of the Destiny’s Bounty. The sense of calm he always felt when sharing a plate of cookies. Even the endless arguments that seemed to emanate from his honorary brothers. Nya, please hurry…  
With nothing else to do, Lloyd stared through the bars of his cage, watching the snakes move about. He could tell that not all of them were pleased by the change of leadership they had just experienced. Perhaps this could be to his advantage. Were they less likely to notice him escaping if they were still distracted by the slither pit incident? There would certainly be less focus on prisoners at a time like this. Now, if he had only thought to learn how to pick a lock. Escaping would be so much easier. Better add that to my list of hobbies… he thought to himself. One never knew when certain skills might come in handy. Maybe Nya would be willing to help him learn when he got him. If he got home. Lloyd shook his head. He had to stay optimistic. Someone was sure to rescue him soon.  
Looking out across the ruins, his face grew pale at the sight of a large figure fighting against a length of hefty chains. Nya too? How cruel could fate be? Unless, of course, she had let herself get caught in order to find him. That must be it… right? But no, as the figure grew nearer, Lloyd realized that she had been well and truly trapped. The chains that bound her were too intricate to easily undo.   
“What on earth were you thinking?” Was the first thing she asked him, after the Serpentine had temporarily chained her mech suit to a nearby rock. Lloyd frowned, drawing his knees to his chest.  
“I was just trying to help… I-I thought maybe if I got some really good dirt on the Serpentine, the ninja would let me tag along on some of their missions instead of leaving me at some lame arcade…” Nya sighed, voice slightly disguised by the mask she wore.  
“Oh, Lloyd… I’ve been helping gather information for them for months, and they still leave me behind. They think they’re protecting us. Which, in your case, is clearly needed…”  
“I know… I’m sorry…”  
“Just tell me you’re OK. No life-threatening injuries?”  
“Yeah. I’m alright. Just a little freaked out. I…Thanks for coming after me. M’ sorry you got captured…” Lloyd couldn’t tell what Nya was thinking, her face blocked by the armor.  
“It’s no big deal. I had to find you. It’s not like I was gonna let someone get away with messing with my baby brother.” At this, Lloyd made a face. He certainly wasn’t any baby – even if he had cried when they first threw him in the cage. Better not let anyone know about that.  
“That said, I really don’t know how we’re gonna get out of this one, to be honest. I wish I could tell you I have some brilliant plan, but the truth is, I got nothing. Plain and simple. I should never have come here alone. I overhead my captors mention that Pythor intends to have me fight the ninja if they show up. I don’t want to hurt them… My brothers…My friends… But I’m not sure how much of a choice I have…They took my chain cutter…” Even with the disguised voice, he could still sense the worry in her tone. If Nya was worried, things must be worse than he thought. Was his freedom really worth Nya’s imprisonment? No, Lloyd decided. It wasn’t. There was a small part of him that wanted to kick and scream until someone finally took him home and fed him lots of chocolate and told him he’d never have to worry about snakes ever again, wanted to throw a hissy fit until things finally went his way, but a newer, brighter part of him (a part that was growing stronger by the day) knew that it wouldn’t help him to behave like that – not this time. Somewhere, somehow, he had outgrown that behavior. His priorities were different now. He wasn’t alone anymore.   
“Nya?”  
“Uh huh? “  
“If you have the chance to get out of here… You need to take it… E-even if you hafta leave me here…” It wasn’t easy, but it was right. At least, for Lloyd it was. Nya didn’t have to approve of his logic.   
“But Lloyd! The whole reason I came here was to get you. I’m not going if you aren’t with me…” She shook her head.  
“Look. Having both of us here makes it more difficult for the ninja to rescue us. If you’re out there helping them, you can come back for me later… I’m not worth you being stuck here.” Lloyd was pretty sure Nya was glaring at him, but he couldn’t tell for sure.  
“Yes. You. Are!” She argued. He waved a hand dismissively.  
“Yeah, yeah. I’m your brother and you love me. Thanks, but, I’d rather be at the Bounty, then stuck here in some cage. You’d get me out. Eventually.”  
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean I like this idea.”  
“You don’t have to like it.”  
“Lloyd! I’m not leaving you here!” He rolled his eyes. This was going to take a while. The two probably could have continued bickering for several more hours, if not for the fact that the Serpentine who had chained Nya to the rock chose to relocate her elsewhere. The ninja must have been spotted… As she was dragged away, Lloyd gave her his bravest smile, but she could still see the fear in his eyes. If only she could go over and hug him, tell him that everything would be alright.   
“I’ll be fine. Just do it.” She wanted to disagree but was out of hearing distance before she could formulate a convincing response. Lloyd was right about one thing. She wouldn’t rest until he was brought home safely.   
////////\///////\//////  
“Nya… Are you OK? You seem super spacey…” Nya glanced absently at her brother. By the time they returned to the Bounty, it was evening. They were in her room, discussing the samurai situation, but it was obvious that she wasn’t very invested in the conversation.  
“No… Not really. I left Lloyd. I found him and then I just left him there…” Kai sighed, guiding her to her bed. There wasn’t much he could do to comfort her.  
“You did what you could. That’s more than a lot of people would have done. And he flat out told you to leave him behind. He trusts you, Nya.”  
“That’s what makes it so hard… I feel like I’ve failed him.” She replied, sinking onto the mattress, the day’s events having exhausted her.  
“We’ll get him back. We know what we’re up against now, and as soon as I’ve reached my full potential, we’ll be strong enough to fight back.”  
“I hope you’re right…”  
“Of course I am. Have I ever led you astray?” Kai said. To be honest, he was also upset that their mission had been a failure, but, his big brother instincts made him choose to focus on Nya instead. She smiled weakly.  
“Well, actually, yeah. Like, at least once a week…”  
“Oh, gee, thanks. You’re such a loving little sister. But trust me on this. We will rescue Lloyd. No ifs ands or buts. Except yours in bed… It’s late and we both know that you are not a morning person.”  
“Kai! I’m not a child anymore. I can take care of myself.” She pouted. Kai patted her on the head, only a little patronizingly.   
“I know. That doesn’t mean I don’t still worry about you.”  
“Guess you’re right. It has been a rough day, and I really don’t function well without sleep. So good night. And thanks. For being there. I don’t know if I would have made it through today without my annoying, overprotective older brother.” Kai rolled his eyes in acknowledgement, gave her one final pat as she snuggled beneath the covers, and headed for the door.  
“Love you.”  
“Love you too.“  
Those Serpentine didn’t know who they’d messed with.


	7. Chapter 7

Life had been an emotional rollercoaster of insanity for Nya Smith lately. First, Lloyd had stupidly managed to get himself captured by the Serpentine – an issue which she had failed to resolve by herself, much to her frustration. They had discovered Zane’s family history and uncovered secrets that Cole probably would have preferred they never find out about (though she heard that he was a truly exceptional dancer). Jay had finally asked her out, even if their date had ended disastrously – the mere fact that it had happened at all was enough to make her heart beat faster. Everyone had learned her secret identity – which, she thought, they had responded to with far more understanding than she’d expected. And just when she’d thought things couldn’t get any crazier with her over emotionally invested, obsessive, hot head of a brother being convinced that he was the Green Ninja, Lord Garmadon himself had shown up. Which had been completely awkward. At first, she’d been concerned that Lloyd’s father was going to take him back to whatever dark and dingy hole he’d crawled out of and that she’d never get to see him again, but now, she was simply glad he was alive.  
Those moments at the fire temple when it seemed as though she was about to lose both Kai and Lloyd had been heart wrenchingly horrible for her. Like, probably the worst minutes of her life. Watching the others come out without them. Waiting, hoping that maybe by some stroke of immense luck, they’d somehow managed to survive. Wondering how she was supposed to go on without her last remaining relative. Kai had raised her pretty much by himself. It had been just the two of them for so long that she could barely remember her parents, couldn’t imagine having to live life without his overprotective guidance. Without him chasing off nearly every boy who showed interest in her. Giving her his cocky grin before epically failing at some stupid stunt. So many memories had flashed through her head. Nya was close to crying by the time she finally, finally saw the comet like ball of flames surrounding her brothers come into view. And then came the relief, the tears of joy when they touched down on the deck of the Bounty. They weren’t dead after all, thank the First Spinjitzu Master…  
But now, as she held out several of the golden weapons, Nya hated herself. If Kai was right, if Lloyd really was the foretold Green Ninja, then everything was about to change – and Nya wasn’t sure it would be for the better. As impressively mature and selfless as Lloyd could be, he was still a child. A child. One who already had enough emotional baggage without being forced to fight his father one day. It wouldn’t be fair to expect that from him. He deserved a normal childhood. Not more trauma. But the colorful reaction of bright lights reminded her immediately that life wasn’t fair. Please, someone tell me this isn’t happening, Nya begged silently in frustration. Under different circumstances, the sight might have been considered breathtaking, but not here. Not now. Only hours ago, Sensei Wu had entertained the possibility that she was the Green Ninja. Now, she’d give anything to take that burden away from the person she viewed as her baby brother. Someone speaking brought her back to reality.   
“ The battle lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father.”  
Lloyd looked shaken at this. Nya tried to send him an encouraging smile, but wasn’t very successful. Looked like she wasn’t the only one feeling upset by this revelation. When Jay interrupted the moment by asking about the Fang Blade, Nya seized the opportunity to usher Lloyd from the room. He didn’t need to be overwhelmed any more than he already had been. Kai caught her eye and nodded. Good, her brother understood what she was up to. He’d keep the others from noticing their absence before Lloyd had a chance to decompress. Hopefully his father would be as understanding.   
/////\///////\//////  
“Where are we going?” The small boy asked as Nya guided him down the hallway. She answered without stopping, desperate to steal Lloyd away before too many people came looking for him.  
“The kitchen, of course. You look like you haven’t eaten a decent meal since you got captured, and to be honest, I doubt you wanted to stick around anyway…” She had a point. All this green ninja stuff was super overwhelming, and Lloyd wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with it any more just then.  
“I guess, but... Isn’t everyone going to wonder where I am? I mean, I’m sure I’ll have all sorts of new responsibilities now that…”  
“Later – Kai’s gonna cover for you for awhile. For now, let’s just celebrate the fact that you managed to survive getting shot out of a volcano.” The samurai replied as she opened the door to the kitchen. Lloyd’s shoulders sagged in relief. Getting him away from the others had obviously been the right choice.   
“Now, any injuries? Do I need to grab the first aid kit?” She asked, examining him with the eye of someone who had patched up numerous injuries – ranging from paper cut to concussion - throughout the years. Lloyd found himself a seat at the table.   
“Nah, I think I’m OK. Nothing a couple bandaids won’t fix…” She looked relieved. Having Lloyd injured in top of everything else simply wouldn’t do.   
“Good,” She said as she located the cookies – healthy food could wait until after damage control had been performed – This was her baby brother they were talking about.   
“I guess that means I can skip straight to telling that you are so grounded for at least a week-” Did Nya even have the power to do that? Probably? Lloyd wasn’t sure.   
“But-”  
“Seriously, do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”  
“Uh, Nya? Didn’t we already talk about this?”  
“I don’t care! I thought you were going to die.” Nya cried, adding, “Kai too – I’ll have to yell at him later…” as an afterthought.   
“Sorry, mom. Next time a group of snakes kidnap me and take me to an active volcano, I’ll be sure to remember to ask you first…” Came a sassy retort. Had he really just called her mom? Nya raised an eyebrow, but relented with a sigh.   
“Sorry… I’m just glad you’re alright. I would’ve killed Kai myself if he hadn’t gotten you out of there…”  
“That was pretty cool how he got all flamey and flew around and stuff.”   
“Yeah. It was.” Suddenly, Lloyd frowned.  
“Kai’s not mad, right? That I’m… You know, the Green Ninja?” So much for distracting him.  
“No, Lloyd, of course not. Why would you think that?” Asked Nya. He reached for a cookie.  
“H-he just… made a kinda weird face when… that stuff with the weapons happened… and… and I know how much he wanted it to be him…and I-I…” Yep, there were definitely tears in his eyes. She scooted her chair closer to him, giving the small child a side hug. “No one’s mad. A little worried and upset maybe, but not angry. If anything, he’s frustrated that these expectations are being thrust upon you. Kai and I both care a lot about what happens to you. We don’t want to see you hurt. Learning that you are the Green Ninja upsets us, because if it were our choice, we’d kidnap you and hide you somewhere you wouldn’t have to worry about being hurt ever again. Right now, we feel like we won’t be able to protect you as much anymore – and that thought scares us.” Lloyd leaned into her, glancing up.  
“I guess… If I have to be the… you know… At least I have you guys here to help me…”  
“And we will, as much as possible, I promise.” Nya assured him.  
“Thanks. I think I’m gonna need it.”   
“I know. But ninja never quit, and neither do you. You’re waaay too stubborn.”  
“Yeah. You’re right.” He agreed.   
An interesting thought struck her, “Though I’d love to see Kai’s face when he realizes that the deal the guys made turned out to be true…” Lloyd gave her a confused look.  
“They all agreed that whoever found out who Samurai X was first would become the Green Ninja…” Oh, now he understood.  
“Aaaand, I technically figured it out first, because I knew before you even finished the suit… Man, he’s gonna freak when he finds out…” The laugh that followed was weak, but Nya knew it was a step in the right direction. She hesitated for a moment, before asking the question she knew needed to be asked. How she wished she could put it off. Why did she always have to be the one having emotional conversations with the small boy? She took a deep breath.   
“So… I can totally change the subject if you need me to, but how are you feeling about all of this? I mean, I know it can’t be easy.” Her charge didn’t answer immediately, considering whether or not to take the out he had been offered. Knowing that it was probably better to talk about it, he replied.   
“I dunno…I… It’s just a lot, I guess. Doesn’t feel real. I never asked for this, and…” he sort of trailed off.  
“Now you feel like everything’s gonna change?” How was Nya so good at reading minds?   
“Yeah. Pretty much. Everybody has these huge expectations for what the Green Ninja is supposed to be, but like, what if I can’t do it? What if I can’t be what they need?”   
“You’re still a kid. It’s okay if things don’t automatically come to you on the first try. We’re not gonna let anybody make you do something you’re not ready for. Trust me. We’ll beat the living daylights out of anyone who tries. And we’ll be there every step of the way until you are ready.”  
“Believe me, I know... And I’m really, really grateful for that…” Lloyd said, sinking back into Nya’s hug, “But still… why couldn’t destiny have chosen literally anyone besides me, when… when…” He couldn’t continue the sentence.  
“When it’s your father you’ll have to fight.” Nya finished. Lloyd didn’t reply, instead burying his face in her shoulder, a sob escaping his body. She hugged him tighter.  
“Hey.” She started awkwardly, “Look. I wish I could tell you that everything’s gonna be OK, but I can’t, because I don’t know how it will all work out in the end. I wish I could promise you a happy ending, or that you’ll never mess up, but I can’t do that either. All I can do is tell you that I am here for you, and that I’ve seen first hand that your father loves you very, very much and that this scares him just as much as it does you. He doesn’t want to fight, doesn’t want to hurt you. And it’s okay to be scared and confused. It’s fine with me if you want to scream at the sky and question why life has to be so unfair. You can go throw rocks off the side of the deck later if you think that’ll help. Heck, I’ll do it with you – and I’m sure the others would too. Whatever you think is gonna make you feel better about this. Just remember that you have lots of people here who want you to be happy and will do anything they can to make sure you’re ready for whatever happens next. Don’t think you’re alone in this, because you’re not, and you never will be.” The sobbing slowly began to dissipate. “I told you I wouldn’t give up on you when you very first got here, and that’s still true.” She ruffled his hair affectionately and handed him a napkin (in place of cleanex) as she finished. Was this how Kai felt all those times he’d had to comfort her? Worth it, Nya decided. Not that she’d ever tell him that.  
Eventually, the small boy unburied his face long enough to blow his nose. At Darkley’s, crying had been considered a sign of weakness. A reason for the other boys to torture him. Even now that he was away from the horrible school, Lloyd still didn’t particularly like doing so. It made his eyes puffy and his head ache. But, it seemed, tears were something he was going to have to get used to. Kinda like how he would have to get used to the prospect of being the Green Ninja. He flinched as the thought entered his mind, but was surprised to find that it didn’t bother him as much as it had a few minutes ago. Maybe, with time, this whole chosen one thing would be okay after all… It couldn’t possibly be worse than anything he’d faced so far, right? At least he had friends, people to guide him this time. He wouldn’t know unless he tried. They’d just have to figure it all out along the way. Lloyd took a deep breath.   
“So… T-thanks… For putting up with… All of this,” he gestured vaguely, “I’m not really sure what I’d do without you, Nya.” The girl gave him a watery smile. Moving forward wouldn’t be easy, but at least they were on the right path.   
“Oh, you know, go insane, probably.” She teased.  
“Seriously, though. Feeling better?”  
“A little…” He admitted.  
“Glad to hear it.”  
“Yeah, me too.”  
/////////\////////\  
Later, as she watched Lloyd, sitting next to his father as the ninja animatedly explained everything he’d missed over some of Zane’s delicious cooking, Nya could almost pretend that it was a normal family scene. Well… Aside from the four armed man and the nindroid demonstrating some of his newfound abilities, that is. Surrounded by family, the boy was only a shadow of the depressed, angry child he had been when he first arrived. The laughter and teasing made that clear enough. It was good to see the way the others had accepted him into their bizarre family. Good to see his brighter personality shine through. Yes, things were certainly different now, but maybe, that would turn out to be a good thing.  
“Think he’ll be alright?” Her brother asked quietly, placing his hand on her shoulder. Nya looked at him for a second.  
“I sure hope so… We talked about it a lot earlier, and I did my best to help, but only time will tell...”  
“Well, if anyone can get through to him, it’s you. The rest of us may have warmed up to the kid by now, but he’s still gonna come to you first when he needs guidance. The two of you have a special connection. And besides,” Kai said encouragingly, glancing towards Lloyd, “I don’t think you have much to worry about. Look at how happy he is right now.” Nya was relieved to see how relaxed the newfound Green Ninja looked.   
“You know what? I think you might be onto something, there.”  
“Course I am. I’m not the great and powerful Fire Ninja for nothing.”  
“Part of me still wants to snatch him up and take an extended vacation to somewhere far, far away, though…” Nya sighed.   
“If it reaches that point, I am so with you, sis. Just make sure you pick somewhere with plenty of sunny beaches and cute girls… ” The two shared a smile. They didn’t get to talk like this very often anymore.   
“I know… Thank you for getting him out of there…” Nya said earnestly.   
“What was I supposed to do? Let him die?” Kai looked incredulous.   
“Of course not! I knew you’d come through. I didn’t have a chance to congratulate you on finding your true potential, though, so…”   
“Eh, don’t stress it. I figured you’d remember eventually. Awesomeness like mine can’t be ignored.”  
“Whatever you say… Still. I think mom and dad would be very proud. I know I am…” Kai leaned over and gave his sister a hug.   
“Thanks.”   
///////\///////\///////


	8. Chapter 8

Nya shifted uncomfortably as for what seemed like the millionth time since she had first gotten in bed. Due to the loss of the Destiny’s Bounty, the group was currently staying at a local school that had been converted into an emergency shelter in the aftermath of the giant snake that had leveled multiple blocks of Ninjago City. The makeshift beds they were using for the night weren’t very comfortable and her brain didn’t seem to think that ceasing activity and going to sleep was worthwhile pursuit. With all that had happened lately, Nya was sure she’d never be able to look at snakes the same way again. Seeing someone she respected and cared for as much as Sensei Wu be eaten by the Great Devourer had affected her more than she wanted to admit. Having grown tired of reliving the moment, Nya gave up on sleep entirely, slightly annoyed that none of her brothers seemed to be sharing her conundrum.  
“Not the cake...” Cole mumbled in his sleep, resulting in a still sleeping Kai throwing a pillow at him so accurately that it could almost be mistaken for having been orchestrated intentionally. Sleeping in a room with so many other people obviously didn’t bother them at all. Unfortunately for Nya, the sounds of the others only contributed further to her insomnia. She turned on her phone and glanced at the time. It was late – almost 1 in the morning. Several alerts from local news stations filled her screen. “Ninjago City in Ruins”, “Hundreds Lose Homes in Surprise Snake Attack”, and “Police Seek Parents of Unidentified Girl Displaced By Building Collapse” seemed to be common headlines. Not in the mood for such depressing topics, Nya opened a reading app. Maybe a good book would help her relax...  
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////  
Lloyd raced down an empty street, desperately trying to outrun the ginormous snake that was hot on his heels. The Great Devourer had already consumed his uncle and now, it was after him. Crash! The beast knocked over a lamp post. Dodging, Lloyd managed to avoid being hit by the falling object. However, he failed to notice the pile of debris directly in front of him. As he tripped, the Great Devourer loomed above him, growing closer and closer, fangs dripping with venom. There was no escape. With a whoosh, the snake opened its jaws wide and prepared to strike.  
Lloyd woke to the sound of his own screaming. Just a nightmare. Through the dim light, he could just make out the forms of the others – most of them still asleep. He was safe. The Great Devourer would never be able to hurt another soul. But the reminder of the day’s events was a little too real for his liking.  
“You’re lucky the guys can sleep through pretty much anything...” Nya commented quietly, glancing over from her perch on a camping cot.  
“Uh… sorry. Did I wake you?”  
“Nah. I was already up.” Nya waved her phone, the light from the screen illuminating her face, “Every time I close my eyes, I see Sensei getting eaten. Not fun. I figured I might as well catch up on my reading. It’s more exciting than watching Jay hug his pillow. And we haven’t exactly had much free time lately anyway.” Lloyd nodded in agreement. Life had been pretty crazy with the serpentine and the fang blades. Not to mention Lloyd’s newfound status as green ninja. Though, Jay’s current sleeping position was pretty entertaining, he thought as he glanced over at the sleeping form of the ninja of lightning.   
“So… Nightmare?” Lloyd sighed. He wished he could deny the suggestion, but, screaming a few minutes ago had definitely given it away.  
“I never want to see another snake again…”  
“Trust me, I know. And I’d say that’s a pretty reasonable response after everything we’ve been through.”   
The two jump at the sound of a baby crying coming from somewhere down the hall.   
“If it makes you feel better, it looks like we’re not the only ones having trouble sleeping...” Nya offered in an attempt to cheer Lloyd up.  
“Yeah. I can’t believe how many people are staying here.” He commented.  
“Ninjago City is a pretty huge place. It’s gonna take awhile for things to get back to normal.” This seemed like a pretty huge understatement to LLoyd. The place was trashed from what he’d seen. And, if he really thought about it, he’d played a pretty large role in making it that way. There had been a time when he wouldn’t have cared all that much, perhaps would have even taken joy in such a fact, but now that he had grown up a bit - now that he was the Green Ninja...  
“Nya?” Lloyd asked, as he made his way over to her cot and sat down next to her.  
“Mhm?”  
“Do you… Do you ever wish I’d just left well enough alone and never released the Serpentine in the first place?” She firmly put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Lloyd, what happened today isn’t your fault, you know.” The small boy gave her a look that clearly said, uh huh – I don’t think so, but leaned against her tiredly.  
“Well, actually, it kinda was. I mean, Pythor wouldn’t have been able to summon the Great Devourer if it weren’t for me.” He pointed out.  
“Maybe, but how do you know that someone else wouldn’t have made the same mistake? Literally anyone could have stumbled upon the Hypnobrai’s tomb. It's not like you were actually looking to cause so much trouble when you found them. ” Lloyd was still skeptical.  
“I guess, but-” Nya interrupted him.  
“And besides, you probably wouldn’t have come to live with us if you hadn’t. And then I never wouldn’t gotten to know my best friend and favorite adoptive brother.” She booped his nose for emphasis as she spoke.  
“ Just think of all the adventures you would have missed out on. Not to mention the fact that we still wouldn’t know who the Green Ninja was. Which, in my humble opinion, would be a pretty big problem.” He finally gave in.  
“Okay, fine. You win. Arguing with you is so pointless.” Lloyd complained.  
“I grew up with Kai for a brother. I’ve picked up a thing or two on being convincing. I know things kinda suck, and that a lot of people are hurting right now, but you can’t let it get to you too much. These wounds will heal with time and you’ve still got a world to save one day. Just remember that you’re not perfect. You’re allowed to make mistakes. ”  
“That doesn’t make it any easier.”  
“I know. But I'm gonna keep saying it until I finally get through that thick skull of yours. You should also keep in mind that Hindsight is always 20/20.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Asked Lloyd, confused by Nya’s words.  
“It means that the more you focus on you past mistakes, the more you feel like you should have seen them coming, should have done something to stop them. But that’s not healthy. You can’t just keep on focusing on every little thing you do wrong. You’ll be miserable. Which is why I'm ending this conversation right now and challenging you to a game of 20 Questions.”  
“Wait! What?”  
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////  
“It’s Sensei’s beard, isn’t it?”  
“How did you-”  
“Hah! I knew it.” Nya declared with a look of triumph.  
“But-”  
“ Another round?” They had been playing for over an hour. Nya currently held the record for number of wins, somehow managing to guess correctly within a very slim number of questions. Lloyd yawned, but nodded.  
“I guess I could be persuaded to keep playing. But you gotta tell me how you keep winning so easy one of these days...”  
“A good samurai never reveals her secrets.” Nya said with a wink. Considering her options for a moment, she added, “Alright, I got one.”  
“Person, place, or thing?” Lloyd asked her, determined to finally beat his opponent.   
“Place.”  
“Is it somewhere I've been?”  
“Oh, definitely.” He thought for a moment.   
“Is it Mega Monster Amusement Park?”  
“Lloyd! You’ve never actually been there...”   
“Yeah, but I want to.”  
“That doesn’t count. Next question.”   
“Is it... The Venomari Tomb?”  
“Nope.”  
“Is it Darkley’s?”  
“Absolutely,” Lloyd perked up at this, but then, Nya continued, “Not.” He groaned in frustration.  
“Final answer. Is it Buddy’s Pizza Place?” She looked at him, for a moment, eyebrows raised.  
“Oh my gosh Lloyd! It’s like you’re not even trying.”  
“Well maybe I'm just tired." He said, attempting to elbow her. Nya blocked his attempt. She could tell he was fading quickly.  
“It is almost 3 a.m. Maybe you should think about going back to bed. We can finish this tomorrow.” Suggested the older girl. Lloyd yawned before reluctantly giving in to his tiredness.  
“You’re right. Promise you won’t let any snakes in here?” She wasn’t sure he was completely awake anymore. It was doubtful that any of the Serpentine were going to show their scaly faces anytime in the near future. So, she simply nodded and half carried, half dragged him over to his own bed and tucked him in.  
“G'night Nya,” Came a sleepy voice.  
“Goodnight, kid. Sweet dreams.” As Nya slipped quietly back to her own cot, she could have sworn she herd him mumble,  
“Love you...” And it melted her heart. She had no trouble falling asleep after that.


	9. Chapter 9

Lloyd aggressively swept the broom he was using towards the broken bits of glass that had resulted from yet another failed attempt at learning to control his newfound power. He wondered if the others had completely forgotten he was still in the room. Were they seriously not going to ask him before making the decision to return to his former school? It was all fine and dandy that they had been invited to some fancy ceremony, but Lloyd had no intention of returning to Darkley’s School for Bad Boys. Ever. Thank you very much. Growing up there had left him with little love for the gloomy halls, certifiably insane teachers, and bratty children with way, way too much time on their hands and far too few positive role models. The more time he spent with the ninja, surrounded by a positive environment and people who truly cared about his wellbeing, the more he realized just how sketchy Darkley’s had really been. Unbidden memories of being painfully shoved into dark closets and left there for hours on end, of cackling laughter as someone’s foot caused him to faceplant onto the grimy floor of the cafeteria again, filled his head, causing him to shudder slightly. No, the day he stepped foot in that horrible place willingly would be the day that Cole gave up cake. 

“Lloyd’s change inspired them...” Yeah, right. This was totally just a setup – a new way to humiliate Lloyd. And this time, it would be in front of people whose opinions actually mattered to him. His uncle was just too blind to see it, and so were the ninja. Going to the ceremony would not end well for him. Of that he was sure. The small boy’s grip on the broom handle tightened. Snap! He looked down in surprise to find that he’d somehow managed to break the piece of wood in half. Huh. He hadn’t known he had that kind of strength. If only there was a way to make them understand! Growling in frustration, Lloyd leapt forward, ready to take out his emotions on the punching bag... Only to end up headbutting it in a gloriously ungraceful manner. The others just stared, probably questioning how they’d ended up saddled with someone as uncoordinated as him. Lloyd scrambled to pick himself up off of the floor, careful not to show any lingering pain from hitting his head. Slightly woozy, he punched and kicked at his target, muttering to himself about the unfairness of life. 

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

It didn’t take long for Kai, Zane, Jay, and Cole to get ready to leave for the ‘ceremony’, the promise of glory – and cake – motivated them far more than mere words could. But, they noted as they waited impatiently by the door, Lloyd didn’t seem to share their excitement. He had not moved from his station in the corner of the dojo they were currently using as training headquarters in lieu of the Destiny’s Bounty, which had been destroyed by the Great Devourer not long before. Rolling his eyes, Jay tried to get the fun sized Green Ninja’s attention. 

“Lloyd, you gonna be ready to leave soon? We really don’t want to be late...” 

“Every second we stay here is one less second we get to enjoy the world’s most amazingly delicious pastry – cake...” Cole added. Lloyd sighed loudly, but made no move to join them. The older ninjas glanced at each other. 

“Oh, c’mon. Really?” 

“Can it, Jay. I'll handle this.” Kai said, opting to play the role of the responsible one since his sister had already left for the auto body shop – she’d wanted to see them off, but couldn’t afford to show up to work late. He ushered the others outside before making his way over to the clearly unhappy child. 

“So... What’s all this dramatic sighing about, then?” Kai asked him. Lloyd crossed his arms. 

“Maybe I don’t want to go back to that stupid place...Did’ja ever think of that?” 

“Oh, I just figured you didn’t want to have to smell Cole’s smelly feet on the ride over…” Kai teased, earning him an eye roll. 

“No. It’s not that… Though his feet really do smell disgusting… It’s just…” Lloyd sighed again, making his way over to a nearby bench. Kai followed him. 

“Do… Do you wanna talk about it? I mean, I’m not Nya, but I have been known to be an okayish listener. You know, every once in awhile.” He said, thinking back to all the times he’d talked Nya through her own issues when they were younger. Having to raise her had given him lots of experience dealing with freak outs. And she had shared her suspicions that Lloyd’s time at Darkley’s had scarred him more than he was likely to admit on multiple occasions. The fact that he had been so prepared to run away after the tea pot incident awhile back, lack of any mention of what exactly had gone on while he lived there, and his obvious anxiety and trust issues spoke volumes to both of them. Kai was honestly surprised she hadn’t flat out told Wu to ignore the invitation. 

“I don’t think you get… How bad Darkley’s really was. Sure, it shouldn’t have been a great place to be – it was a school for kids with villainous family backgrounds - but…It was so much worse than that…” Kai nodded solemnly. 

“Why am I even telling you this?” Lloyd asked as he looked away, not wanting the ninja of fire to see him cry. That was still a little too outside of his comfort zone. But he decided to continue in spite of his misgivings. 

“I hated it there. I always felt so… so alone. And somehow, everyone just kinda knew that. And they used that knowledge against me. All. The. Time! There were days I couldn’t even walk down the hall without getting beat up… a-and now I’m rambling… I wish Nya were here…” He felt Kai cautiously ruffle his hair. Neither were quite sure what the boundaries in their relationship were. Lloyd had grown attached to the older boy, bonding with him over video games and watching the others do stupid stuff – and he would never forget how Kai had saved him that time at the fire temple, but the two had never really held deep, emotional conversations before. This was new territory for both of them. 

“I know you do, kid. But she’s not the only one who cares about you, you know. Look, I don’t care if I get myself kicked off the premises for punching some idiot in the face,” Lloyd eyed him, a small smile starting to form – that definitely sounded like something Kai would do, “If anyone, and I mean anyone, tries to hurt you today, I will personally end them.” 

“Really?” Lloyd asked, noticeably calmer. Kai smiled encouragingly. 

“Of course. I’ll stay right by your side the entire time. I promise.” The small boy stood up and headed for the door. 

“Okay. You win this round. But you owe me an entire bag of those peach rings they sell at that candy shop at the corner of First and Maple. And I get to steer the Ultra Dragon!” Trailing behind him, Kai shook his head, marveling at the kid’s ability to bounce back so quickly. 

“ That’s the spirit!” He called encouragingly. What had he just gotten himself into? 

\/////////\/////// 

Bzt. Bzt. Nya put down her tools and glanced at her phone – a new text message from her brother was waiting to be opened. 

Be prepared for damage control if this award ceremony doesn’t go well… - Kai 

What? Why? – Nya 

Our little green bean was kinda iffy about going back to that shady school of his. No pun intended. You know, cause the school’s named Darkley’s… - Kai 

Very Funny… - Nya 

Don’t worry I already talked to him about it. – Kai 

It was nice to see someone else looking out for her baby brother. Even if Lloyd probably wouldn’t appreciate the nick name Kai had given him. Smiling, she typed out a reply message. 

Awe, look at you! Being all supportive and stuff :) . Keep me posted. – Nya 

Will do, sis. – Kai 

Gtg. About to land. – Kai 

K. Love you. – Nya 

Same. C U later. – Kai. 

The samurai sighed as she put away her phone and got back to work. If she finished her project quickly, she’d just have time to show Jay around when he got back. 

////////////\///////// 

Lloyd sank onto the dingy apartment’s lone sofa, relieved that the visit to his former school was finally over. The others had gone off in search of food (they never did find any cake for Cole), leaving him to hold down the fort on his own. To say that his day had been strange would be an understatement. Things could be worse, he supposed. He had walked away from the experience with his dignity mostly intact, and only mildly traumatizing memories to look back on. Getting tied up a grand total of two times by his former classmates had to be some kind of record, and he had been able to make peace with some of them in the end. Most of them had even seemed to embrace their inner goodness. How would have guessed that Brad - of all people, enjoyed gardening? Still, it was safe to say that he had absolutely no interest in going back any time soon. Not when there were video games to be played, comic books to read, and death defying adventures to go on. He hoped Nya would be home soon. There was sure a lot to tell her about. They could talk it all through, and then he’d feel better and be able to laugh about it later instead of feeling all the jumbled up emotions he was currently dealing with. 

It wasn’t long before his partner in crime arrived, looking slightly more frazzled than usual. She seated herself next to him before asking, 

“So, was it as bad as you thought it’d be?” Lloyd shrugged. Good question. 

“I… I guess not. It was mostly just weird….” 

“Evil ninja clones?” 

“Evil ninja clones.” Lloyd confirmed. 

“I swear, one of these days, we’ll have done so many stupidly crazy things that even something like talking rats won’t phase us anymore. We’ll just be like ‘Okay, cool’ and act like it’s totally normal to be asking vermin for directions to the nearest take-out restaurant...” Commented Nya. She had a point. They did have to deal with an above average amount of bizarre occurrences. 

“But how did you-?” 

“Let’s just say I had a little run in of my own.” Nya told him. 

“Really? What happened?” 

“There’s honestly not that much to tell. Nothing major happened. Evil Jay stopped by work on the way to Darkley’s. We talked for a sec and he left. That’s all.” Lloyd stared at the girl beside him, eyebrows raised. There was something she wasn’t telling him. Had seeing her boyfriend’s doppelganger really weirded her out that much? 

“Uh huh? You’re sure nothing else happened?” Nya glanced away uncomfortably. Yep, definitely hiding something. 

“I… well…” She bit her lip, wondering if Lloyd was really the best person to discuss this with. Maybe she should just wait until Kai got home? But no, her brother probably wouldn’t want to hear about the complex nature of her love life. He wasn’t a huge fan of her being in a relationship period, even if it was with one of the people he trusted most. And so, with a great deal of questioning her own sanity, Nya decided to talk to Lloyd about the bizarre experience. 

“He kissed me, Lloyd.” Ew… 

“My first kiss, and I didn’t even realize it wasn’t him until later... What kind of person am I that I don’t even recognize when something’s off about the people I love?” She sighed. 

“I feel terrible. What am I even going to tell Jay?” Lloyd wasn’t really sure how to respond to what he’d just been told. He didn’t know what he’d expected her to say, but that certainly wasn’t it. Was being a teenager always this complicated? It was a good thing Lloyd had no interest in girls – this whole dating thing struck him as far more trouble than it was worth. 

“Okaay. So, that’s a little awkward, I admit. But after the day we’ve had, I doubt he’s gonna care that much. I mean, Jay reaaally likes you – it’s actually kind of annoying just how much he likes you. And he’s an awfully forgiving person... Remember that time I re-programed the training robot to go after him?” Nya shot him a look. 

“I thought you only did that because Sensei told you to…” 

“Meh. That’s not the point. What I’m saying is - you’ll survive. Who’s gonna be my partner in crime if you die of embarrassment?” He asked. 

“I… You know, you’re right. I should be overthinking this so much. I’ll just have to talk to Jay about it later. This is totally survivable...” Nya said, trying to sound confident. 

“Of course it is… “ Lloyd said with an eye roll. 

“So... How did everything at Darkley’s go down?” She asked, obviously ready for a subject change. 

“Well... I got to steer the ultra dragon, so that was pretty great…” Lloyd offered. Nya made a face. 

“How motion sick did you make the others?” 

“Hey! It’s not my fault if they can’t take my sick driving skills…” He defended, arms crossed. 

“Uh huh.” 

“Anyways,” Lloyd said, ignoring Nya, “I could tell things were gonna get interesting when I saw Brad-” 

“Who’s Brad?” 

“Sh… I’m getting to that. He’s one of my old classmates. He was in the courtyard gardening. Which seemed suspicious because why would someone who loves putting fire ants in people’s beds enjoy gardening? And then, he took us to see the principle – except it wasn’t actually the principle, it was just another one of my classmates, Gene. And when we got to the office, he kinda… knocked us out with sandbags…” Nya looked him over, worried. 

“Should I be concerned? Any signs of concussion?” Lloyd shook his head. 

“Nah. It takes more that that to take down Lloyd Garmadon. Now where was I… the principle’s office. Right. So, after I got knocked out, Gene and Brad took me to a classroom where a bunch of the other kids were. Don’t know what they did with the ninja. We’ll have to ask them later. But, Gene was all angry cause he thought I’d ruined my rep by becoming the Green Ninja, which is so not true. And then I tried to use some weird logic about being able to lie meaning that I couldn’t be totally good. Not really sure where I was going with that. I don’t thing they really believed me, but they couldn’t do anything about it, cause that’s when the evil ninja clones showed up. Everyone else went to investigate, so of course, I got right to work trying to free myself. Nya, I used my powers and they actually worked!” He exclaimed excitedly. 

“Wow Lloyd. I’d say that’s quite the accomplishment! Bet you’re super excited. ” Nya said, sharing his enthusiasm. 

“And that’s not even the best part! Everyone was trying to figure out how to take down the good ninja, and I was starting to get a little worried, but then… but then, I had this super wise epith… epif…” 

“Epiphany?” Nya suggested. 

“Yeah, that. I realized that if I had some good in me that made my life worthwhile, maybe some of the others did too! I mean, sure, some of the kids I went to school with were definitely pure evil, but most of those guys left after Darkley’s started to reform… So, I talked to them, and I guess something clicked, cause after that, pretty much everyone was my side. And then we helped the ninja defeat the clones and I was basically just super awesome. You should’ve seen it… It was so cool! I guess Brad really did like gardening after all.” Lloyd wasn’t quite prepared for the bone crushing hug that Nya gave him, but he accepted it anyway. It made the last little piece of awkwardness fall away. 

“Do you have any idea how proud I am?” Nya asked, “Not only did you go back to the one place I know you hated more than anything, but you stood up to the people who I know caused you a lot of pain. That was incredibly brave. And the fact that you made so many people see the good in themselves? Total Green Ninja move right there.” She ruffled his hair affectionately. Lloyd smiled at her. 

“Well, when you put it like that… I guess it was…” Nya was definitely going to get a more accurate story from her brother, later, but this new level of confidence, and the obvious joy on Lloyd’s face as he told the story made any level of exaggeration totally worth it. It was clear that going back to Darkley’s had, in fact, helped heal some of the small boys scars, just as she’d hoped it would. 

Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane returned from their shopping trip with several take – out containers of food from Master Chen’s Noodle House not long after. The smell of food was enticing, but that wasn’t what prompted Lloyd to abandon his spot on the couch. His eyes lit up when he saw the small package Kai carried. 

“Yes! You got them!” He exclaimed happily as he grabbed his peach rings and ripped them open. 

“Now Lloyd, you do realize we’re having dinner in a few minutes, tops?” Nya called, not really meaning it. 

“Please…” Lloyd gave all of them his best impression of puppy dog eyes. 

“Fine, but only if you share…” She relented as she snatched one from him and shot her sibling a look that said did you really just bribe our baby brother… Kai simply smirked and returned with a look meaning, we’ll talk later. And she knew they would. They always did. It was part of being a family. A crazy, weird family that no one else could ever hope to understand... Nya thought as she watched Jay chase Cole around the room with a pair of chopsticks, trying to reclaim a box of noodles, and shouting rather creative insults at each other – “Get back here you oversized clod of dirt!” “Not on your life, zap trap!” – followed by the maniacal laugher of Lloyd, who clearly found the situation hilarious. But she wouldn’t give it up for all the world. They were happy, they were safe, and they were loved, and that was all that really mattered anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

“I’m worried about him, Kai...” Nya told her brother quietly as she watched Lloyd trip and fall flat on his face again on his way to the dinner table. He groaned miserably before pushing himself up, muttering something about stupid gravity. 

“So am I. He’s been like this all day. I think it’s gonna take him some time to get used to… Well… everything. Poor kid.” Kai replied. She nodded. She’d seen what training had been like earlier. Her baby brother was seriously off his game, if the lack of ability to stay on his feet was anything indication of how he was handling life currently. Lloyd was, quite honestly, a mess. 

“Today’s been rough. I wish there was more we could do for him…” The samurai agreed. 

“Same… I guess for now, we’ll just have to be patient with him, you know? None of us have ever magically lost what- 4? 5? Years of our life like that…” Nya flinched at the staunch reminder of the very event she’d been trying so hard to avoid thinking about. It was still him. His appearance was all that had changed… she’d told herself that over and over again as she’d heartbrokenly watched him struggle through things that had never caused him so much stress in the past. It was still him. The incredibly brave, generous, self-sacrificing sunshine child she’d grown to love so much. The kid who was always there with a hug when she needed it. Who had literally written a letter to Santa, asking him to convince Lord Garmadon to let them celebrate Christmas without fighting. And who possessed so much innocence that they all frequently wondered how he could possibly have survived everything the world had thrown at him. She believed that, no matter how bizarre he acted in the coming days. And maybe, somehow, they could make things right again. Someday. 

“I know… I-I hope he finds an outlet for this soon … He sure as heck can’t bottle everything up inside. That’s never a good idea.” She commented. The master of fire nodded in agreement – he knew from personal experience how dangerous doing so could be. 

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” Her boyfriend asked, slipping into the empty seat next to her. She flashed him a small smile in greeting. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kai leaned in, gesturing subtly towards the newly… Taller green ninja, who was absent mindedly stabbing at his food, lacking his usual appetite. And his desire to join the others in conversation, for that matter. 

“What are we gonna do with him?” Jay joined them in observing their brother in everything but blood, also worried about his well-being. 

“Dunno, but someone will have to step in sooner or later if he keeps this up…” Stated Kai. The kid was gonna crash and burn if he didn’t allow himself to decompress after everything that had happened. 

“That’s for sure,” The ninja of lightning acknowledged. He hesitated for a moment, then turned to his girlfriend, 

“Nya, I hate to say it, but… He’s gonna be the most receptive to you, out of all of us…” 

“I-You’re right…I’ll try to catch him tonight. After dinner…” She decided, sighing. Would their lives ever be simple? 

“Good call. You got’ this.” 

“Thanks. I sure hope so…” With little else to say, the trio turned their attention to the meal that Zane had so lovingly prepared for them, still keeping a very close eye on the subject of their whispered concerns. 

//////////\////////////\////////////////\//////////\///////////\//////////\ 

Lloyd’s day had started out rocky, and only gotten worse from there. He had gone straight to bed when they returned from Doomsday Comix the previous day, too exhausted to deal with the consequences of being exposed to Tomorrow’s Tea. The others had insisted on relocating him to the bedroom shared by the rest of the ninja so that they could ensure that there were no complications from suddenly having his body grow on him like that. Which… Wasn’t such a bad idea in all honesty - he’d been freaking out majorly about the whole thing. His family members were a comforting presence, one that he needed. A lot. Unfortunately, they had failed to account for how his height difference might affect his sleep. So, when he woke with his muscles on fire, feeling like he’d been put through a taffy puller, he promptly managed to conk his head on the bunk bed above him. Adding a migraine to his growing list of things to be upset about – along with having to borrow clothes from Kai because (What luck!) he no longer fit in any of his own. And then, he’d tripped over his suddenly too large feet on the way to the dining room.   
Breakfast hadn’t been much better – the thought of food made his stomach churn unsettlingly. Training, though? Training had definitely been the worst part of the day. It was like Lloyd had lost any form of natural grace or balance he might’ve possessed in the past. Every kick, punch, and spin felt like torture. It was so comforting to know that the stupid magical tea has done absolutely nothing to improve his pain tolerance. The boy? Teen? He wasn’t sure what to call himself anymore, had lost count of the number of spills he’d encountered by the time lunch rolled around. His body was gonna be covered with bruises for weeks. Probably enough to rival the ones he’d had during his time at Darkley’s. Being small and shrimp like then hadn’t done him any favors, and it looked like his growth spurt wasn’t doing any now. 

But he couldn’t complain, no, because it had been his choice. He was the one that had unleashed the tea. No one else could take responsibility for his actions. This was a fact Lloyd was willing to accept. And he wouldn’t trade his siblings’ lives for his own comfort. Not in a million, trillion years. He just… wished he’d known how hard it was going to be to… to adjust to his new body. Maybe then, he could’ve prepared himself better for the pain – the feeling of loss he felt when he looked at the group picture that hung in the hallway, because he knew that things could never go back to the way they had been before… He knew that, and he hated it. Moreover, he resented himself for being upset by it, because he had no right to be. Sighing frustratedly, Lloyd played with the food on his plate, still not hungry. No matter how hard he tried, nothing could distract him from his tumultuous emotions for very long. Across the table, Kai, Nya, and Jay appeared to be anxiously holding a hushed conference. The usually bright and engaging atmosphere had been replaced with one that was much more reserved. None of them were going to have a normal meal, it seemed. Whatever they were discussing, his sister was clearly not impressed. The ninja of lightning said something to her and she sighed heavily. What was wrong? He hoped it didn’t have to do with him. 

“I’m not… hungry… Think I’m gonna go get a little more training in before bed.” Lloyd declared, shoving back his chair. Maybe being alone for a little while would help clear his head. 

“Are you sure, nephew? Pushing yourself so soon after your body has gone through such changes may have undesirable consequences.” Sensei Wu inquired, not particularly thrilled with the suggestion. Nya stared at him searchingly, as if attempting to read his thoughts. Which only made him more uncomfortable. He didn’t want her to worry. He’d be okay – eventually. 

“I’ll be careful, I promise.” He assured them, rushing from the room before anyone else could question his behavior. The green ninja took his time on the way to the training room, walking at an agonizingly slow pace to avoid making a hazard of himself. It wasn’t exactly a place he enjoyed visiting by himself. At least, not after the run in with Pythor that had occurred there. But, with everything else on his mind, Lloyd found that it didn’t bother him as much as usual. Maybe if he started out with something super easy? And focused really hard? Yeah, he should be able to handle that. He had to be ready for… Nope, that was definitely another thought to avoid… Shaking his head, the blond adjusted his stance and set to work beating the heck out of an unfortunate training dummy. Which worked out to be relatively… untraumatizing, until Lloyd attempted a roundhouse kick and it backfired terribly; rebounding towards him, the dummy caught him in the chest, sending him reeling backwards onto the (thankfully) padded mat. Well, he and the floor were just becoming best buds, now weren’t they? Breathing heavily, he allowed himself to lay there, eyes closed. Ugh! Why did the universe hate him so much? 

“Lloyd...” Nya? He hadn’t even heard her approach, but from the way she said his name, she had obviously been watching for awhile. 

“Go away.” Lloyd groaned as he sat up. She didn’t need to see him like this. She’d get all concerned, and ask him about stuff, and then? He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep it all from tumbling out, because he told her everything. And if he did that – Nya would know how - how selfish he was being. How childish… He was the Green Ninja… He didn’t – couldn’t… 

“Nope.” Much to his disappointment, she plopped down next to him instead, “Drink.” She ordered, shoving a bottle of water into his hand. He took a large gulp - only to pacify his older sister. The girl smiled weakly at him. 

“So… We’re gonna talk…” She informed him. He turned away. 

“Look. I’m sure you’re worried, and all, but I’m fine. Really.” This wasn’t enough to get rid of the stubborn samurai, though. 

“No. You’re not.” Came the soft, if firm reply as she put her hands on his shoulders, “Just look at yourself. I know you, Lloyd. I know when you’re lying.” He tried to wriggle away, but her grip was too strong. 

“Okay. Maybe I’m not. But I don’t… I-it’s stupid… and I-” He started, a feeling of defeat washing over him. Nya let out a sigh of her own and ruffled his hair. 

“I swear, kid. You’re gonna give me gray hairs waaay before I’m a legal adult… C’mon. Let’s go get you some cookies, yeah?” She patiently pulled him up, pausing to catch him every time he almost toppled over (curse his inability to balance properly). His lack of resistance surprised her slightly, but she’d take what she could get. Her baby brother needed her, and nothing could get in the way of that. Even if he did weigh slightly more than before… 

“Are you good to grab a couple of glasses?” Nya asked when they reached the kitchen. She might as well take advantage of his newfound height… And it would help to keep him occupied. 

“I guess?” The blond replied skeptically. He crossed to the cupboards, praying he didn’t knock anything important over. 

“I’ll grab the milk and cookies, then.” She made her rounds from the pantry to the fridge, then over to the table. Lloyd joined her, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, as he safely set down the glasses. 

“Here you go,” Nya filled his glass and shoved a cookie into his hand, “Now spill. This isn’t typical Lloyd Garmadon, biggest cinnamon roll I’ve ever met, behavior. I want answers, green bean.” He sat quietly for a second, not quite sure how to formulate a coherent response. 

“Today was… It wasn’t a great day…” He finally admitted. She hummed quietly, pursing her lips as if to say oh really? I never would’ve guessed. 

“I just – I didn’t know how hard it was gonna be to…” 

“Adjust to all of this?” Nya offered as he trailed off. He shrugged. 

“Yeah, I guess. Everything hurts and I’m tired of tripping all the time? And it’s all so different now and I-I wanna… But I can’t...” His face felt hot and sticky; tears ran down his face, but he didn’t bother to hide them. She took one of his hands and squeezed it. 

“It’s not selfish of you to be upset, you know. It’s fine for you to be angry, or hurt, or scared. All of those emotions completely okay.” 

“But, but I was the one who-” Lloyd began to protest. His sister scooted closer. 

“Used the Tomorrow’s Tea? You didn’t really have another choice. I was there, too, Lloyd. What else were you gonna do? Win the Grundle over with your fabulous looks and charming personality?” She said pointedly. To his surprise, he found himself letting out a wet laugh. It was a good thing someone had planted a box of tissues on the table. Exactly how much of this intervention had been planned? 

“If only. It would be pretty great if I could do that.” He allowed. 

“You played the hand you were dealt with. It’s not your fault destiny gave you crappy cards.” Nya continued. 

“I know. I just… I’m not ready for everything to start changing so quickly? Like, I don’t even know how…” He sniffed. A bemused look crossed her face. 

“Nothing’s really changed. Not if you don’t want it to. You’re still you, deep down. You’ve just… Gotten a bit taller – and maybe a little more mature? I dunno – but that’s all. You’re still Lloyd Garmadon, Green Ninja extraordinaire, and baby brother to a bunch of crazy teenage boys and one super awesome samurai. It’s just – now you’re going through that awkward puppy stage-” 

“What?” Lloyd interrupted. She rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully, realizing that it was true. It had started out as a mantra to keep her from breaking down, but now that she thought about it… 

“It’s true! Haven’t you ever seen a puppy when they get to that phase where they haven’t grown into themselves yet, so they just get super klutzy and awkward? That’s you. You’re a great big golden retriever puppy!” Declared Nya firmly. Lloyd stared at her, mouth open. 

“So now I’m a dog?” 

“You goof! You’re ridiculously loyal, have the floofiest golden hair I’ve ever seen, and you make a habit of falling all over the place! Look me in the eye and tell me the comparison’s faulty. I dare you.” She challenged. He smirked slightly and tossed a piece of cookie at her. 

“Yeah, OK. Sure. I’m a golden retriever. Fine. Why didn’t I see it before?” 

“Whatever. It’s totally legit. And about this whole growing up business you seem to be so concerned with? I don’t think you get how it works.” 

“I-I don’t?” 

“Trust me. It’s not about giving up everything you used to love-” The girl began to explain. 

“I never said-” 

“You didn’t have to. I’ve been there, you know. Having to grow up too fast? Kai and I – we didn’t get to have a normal childhood after our parents…” She searched for the right words, “After they disappeared… I think he had it worse, but we both… Struggled with it. We had a lot of responsibility thrust on us – looking after each other, trying not to burn down the forge, managing my allergies, literally just staying alive… And it sucked to constantly be under so much pressure. But eventually, we realized. It’s okay to take time to just be a kid. So maybe you’re not gorging yourself on candy 24-7, or staying up all night reading comic books, but you don’t have to completely give up the parts of your life that make you happy. If you genuinely enjoy something, you shouldn’t let anything stop you from having it in your life. It’s more like, how do you prioritize? What’s important to you? Maybe you choose to finish your chores first, so you can have more free time later. Or you limit the amount of sugar you eat so you don’t get sick. It’s really all about perspective.” 

“Wow. I guess I never really thought about it that way.” Lloyd commented once she’d finished. Her words were starting to him feel a little better about the whole situation. Sure, it still wasn’t great, but maybe… 

“Yeah, well, it isn’t something you should have had to consider. And I’m sorry you did. All I know is, no matter how hard the others try to convince me, I refuse to accept that you’re older than me. There’s just no freakin’ way.” 

“No, you’re totally right. I don’t even want to be older than you. You’ll always be my big sister.” He was quick to assure Nya. She smiled weakly, bopping his nose, because no matter how weird everything was, Lloyd was still her brother, and right now, he needed a little bit of normalcy. So she was gonna give it to him. 

“And you’ll always be my best friend and partner in crime. We’ll just say you’re… What, like 14ish? Now?” 

“Sounds okay, I guess. I don’t really feel eleven anymore, but I… I’m not ready to be too much of a teen yet.” The blond determined, still not comfortable with having to think about how these changes were going to affect him. 

“And that’s totally okay. Take as much time as you want with that whole getting older thing.” She told him, smiling encouragingly (they both ignored the amount of snot and tears present on each other’s face). 

“Oh, don’t worry. I will." He replied. 

“Glad to hear it. Now, we can pick this up in the morning, if you want, but, I talked to the others, and we’re canceling training for tomorrow.” While not unwelcome, Lloyd wasn’t sure what to do with this information. 

“Why?” 

“Because you need to rest.” The samurai reminded him, “And besides, we need to get some serious shopping done. You can’t keep wearing Kai’s clothes forever – they don’t even fit you properly. I’m sure that’s not helping with your recent clumsiness.” She was right, of course; it would be good to get away from the Bounty for awhile. 

“We’ll make a day of it. Maybe go out and see a movie, while we’re at it.” 

“That sounds… Really fun, actually…” He agreed, “And thank you. For making me talk to you. And for not letting me keep freaking out. I was being - I needed that…” Physical contact was something the green ninja had been avoiding all day, not wanting to get too close to the others – not wanting them to worry (which, he realized, he hadn’t done a very good job of, now had he?), but that didn’t stop him from wrapping his sister in a tight hug. She was caught a little off guard by the forcefulness, almost toppling out of her chair. It felt odd, for the boy hugging her to be roughly the same size as she was, instead of being absurdly tiny, like he’d once been. She was confident that she could get used to it, though. With time. In the end, they managed to remain upright, with Nya patting Lloyd’s back comfortingly and laughing perhaps more hysterically than necessary. 

“You know I’ll never let you be an idiot for long.” She joked, relinquishing her hold on him. 

“And I’ll forever be grateful for it. Really. So uh, what did you do with the others before you drug me in here?” He inquired. She shrugged, smiling. 

“Oh, they’re off in the living room having a Fist – To – Face tournament. We should probably go join them for a bit before bed. Get your mind off of all this.” 

“Yeah. That’d be nice.” Agreed Lloyd. 

“Just do me a favor?” His sister asked, making a face. 

“Course. Whaddya want?” 

“Take a shower tonight. Please. You stink!” With that, Nya shot into the hall before her (not so) little brother could deny the claim. Some things never changed.


	11. Chapter 11

“Lloyd?” The youth heard someone call softly, interrupting the rather pleasant dream he’d been having. He snuggled deeper into his blankets, not quite ready to be awake yet. Gah! What time was it? Sleep wasn’t a magical cure all, but it definitely did help relieve the trauma of a long, emotional, day, and he wanted to keep taking advantage of that. And his bed was so comfy, too… 

“Time to get up sleepy head! It’s already 10:30, and we have a busy day ahead of us, remember?” Oh. Right. Shopping. And whatever else Nya had planned… 

“Mkay… Fine. I’m awake. What’s for breakfast?” Lloyd asked, sitting up. His older sister lurked by the side of his bed; everyone else must already be up and about. He was eternally grateful that his brothers had moved said bed somewhere free of overhanging objects to hit his head on. This was already shaping up to be a less sucky day than yesterday – though, pretty much anything would be better than that. It was so much more enjoyable to wake up without being in severe pain. 

“Good morning! Looks like someone got their appetite back! That’s an encouraging sign – you must be feeling better this morning, huh?” Nya said brightly. He yawned, a slight smile on his face. 

“Morning. I guess so. Or, at least, I don’t feel like the Ultra Dragon used me as a chew toy today. So that’s good.” 

“Super good. I prefer my best friend when he’s not being all angsty and stuff. I’ll leave you to raid the guys’ drawers in peace. Zane made pancakes. And bacon, so you better hurry, or there won’t be any left.” She told him, patting his head as she left. Hopefully, removing the pressure of ninja training for the day would help Lloyd recover from the Tomorrow’s Tea incident that had occurred a few days ago. He had not handled it well – and rightfully so. Adjusting to suddenly being several years older? Not something that most people would be able to cope with without several mental breakdowns. It had been a cause of great concern for all of them, especially with how much effort it took to get him to talk about it. But, today was a new day, which meant there would be plenty of opportunities to work on getting him back to his usual upbeat self (probably a clumsier version). Nya couldn’t magically make his center of balance return. That would take time, and a fair amount of hard work and focus, more than likely. She entered the kitchen, thankful to find that there was still food to be found on the table. 

“So, did you successfully manage to wake our resident puppy dog, or are you here to tell us we can have more bacon?” Cole inquired, looking longingly at the platter before him. 

“I should never have told you guys about that. And yes, he’s awake, so you can wait until he gets in here to have seconds.” She replied, snagging herself some food before making her way to her usual spot between Kai and Jay. 

“How is he? Any better than yesterday?” Her brother asked. 

“Well, he actually seemed interested in food, and he said he wasn’t as sore today, so that’s promising.” 

“That is promising. And I’m sure redirecting his focus to non-Green Ninja related activities for the day will also be beneficial.” Zane smiled encouragingly from across the table. 

“You’re right, as usual. That’s the power of positive thinking for you!” The master of lightning enthusiastically agreed. His parents went on and on about these kinds of things, but hey, a little optimism could go a long way. 

“Not sure what we’re talking about, but it’s nice to see that you guys can exercise self restraint. On occasion. This stuff looks great, Zane.” Lloyd wandered into the kitchen, still looking a little sleepy. The trip from the bedroom had been full of mishaps, but he miraculously managed to avoid ending up on the floor as he approached his seat. He heaped an assortment of pancakes (with so much whipping cream that Nya would have scolded him under different circumstances) and bacon onto a spare plate, incredibly relieved to find that the sight of food no longer made him want to puke. The blond was starving as a result of skipping virtually every meal the previous day. 

“Thank you. We were discussing today’s excursion.” The nindroid informed him. He shoved a strip of bacon into his mouth before responding. Mmm… How had he ever existed without his family’s cooking? Well... Not Cole’s, but the others weren’t half bad... 

“Oh. Makes sense.” These pancakes were amazing too. And he wasn’t the only one enjoying the meal. 

“So, anybody mind if I have seconds now?” Cole begged, deciding he had waited long enough. Kai rolled his eyes and wordlessly chucked a half eaten pancake at him, earning a look of pure glee from his sister’s boyfriend. Unconcerned with germs, the teen shrugged before peeling it off of his head and eating it. 

“Well, I think that’s really something you should ask Lloyd. The rest of us are pretty much done eating.” Nya reminded the master of earth, trying not to cringe at her siblings’ behavior, “But whatever you decide, we should probably get going soon if we wanna catch the showing of that Fritz Donnegan movie at 2.” 

“Knock yourself out.” The green ninja decided, glancing up from his own plate of food. He could always steal some back if he changed his mind. 

“Kid, have I ever told you that you’re my favorite person?” Exclaimed the master of earth with gratitude before shoveling more bacon into his mouth at an alarming rate. 

“Really? That’s such an honor!” Lloyd smirked. Jay sputtered indignantly – this was his best friend, after all. 

“Hey! I thought I was your favorite?” He questioned suspiciously. 

“Maybe sometimes, sparkplug, but I never bite the hand that feeds me! Sorry.” His friend declared, somehow having managed to wolf down his second helping already. 

“Fair point, but don’t forget about that awesome Christmas present I gave you.” The ninja of lightning offered up in response. 

“Yeah, cause out of all the things you could possibly have given me, a nutcracker was definitely the perfect choice.” 

“I mean, what else was I supposed to do when I found out you used to do ballet? And it makes a lovely statement piece in our room, anyways.” 

Zane watched the interchange as if debating whether or not it would be worthwhile to interfere. Nya caught his eye and nodded slightly. 

“As I’m sure we are all eager to make out departure, I could really use some help with the dishes. Cole? Jay?” The pair ceased their bickering, making a show of sighing dramatically as they helped load dishes into the dishwasher. How Lloyd had ever managed to end up being blessed with such dorks as his family, he would never understand. 

/////////\///////////\///////////\/////////\ 

The mall was a lot less crowded (and sparkly) than it had been during their last visit. In the time since Christmas, the parking lot had lost its snowbanks, and the various garlands, trees, and poinsettias that had coated literally every square foot of the complex had disappeared, making it much easier to navigate between stores without Lloyd tripping over something other than his own two feet (which did happen - several times). The building was distinctly less populated, which was probably a good thing for the time being, as it meant that there were fewer people to recognize them from the run-ins with snakes that occurred on what felt like a weekly basis. Hopefully. That was the last thing they needed to deal with when her baby brother’s emotional stability was still so fragile. The girl missed Christmas, honestly. Because if it were still Christmas, they’d have a truce with Garmadon, and Lloyd… Would still be a kid... Like he should be... Gah! All of this shopping only served to make the whole situation feel more real. More permanent. 

Bzt..Bzt… Nya glanced down at her phone to read her latest text message. She was sitting on a bench outside of the dressing room waiting for her brothers to finish being Lloyd’s fashion advisory team, because really, it shouldn’t take all six of them to do so. 

Kai: Plz save me 

She frowned and typed a response. 

Nya: Rly? You can’t handle helping the green bean pick out some new clothes for 5 mins without my assistance? Lame! 

Kai: Actually, ths is lloyd. Seriously. I need hwlp! 

Well, that wasn’t what she’d been expecting. 

Nya: why r u texting me on Kai’s phone? Ur supposed to be trying stuff on so we can find things that actually fit. 

Kai: I *may* have taken it when he wasn’t looking. And im TRYING! But they keep handing me stuff that’s uber embaracing! 

Of course they were. What had she been expecting, letting them go off on their own? Though, she had assumed that Zane, at least, would keep the others from getting too distracted. Apparently not. And she really needed to broach the subject of getting Lloyd his own cellular device with his uncle one of these days… A lot of inconveniences could be avoided. 

Nya: What do u mean? Like plaid and polka dots don’t mix embarrassing? 

Nya: Or makes u look like a toddler embarrassing? 

Kai: Sending u a pic. 

Rolling her eyes at the image on her screen, Nya decided it was time to intervene. 

Nya: Don’t worry. On my way to deal with those idiots. 

“Oh boys?” She sang, sticking her head through the doorway of an area lined with doors and the occasional mirror, “Would someone please explain to me why you thought a dragon onesie would be a necessary article of clothing for Lloyd to own?” 

“Uh, because they’re awesome? And super comfy? Seriously, we all need one…” Her boyfriend told her. He looked so enthusiastic about the idea that she was barely able to stifle a smile. The others just seemed exasperated, as if they had already had this conversation. So there hadn’t been purposeful attempts to embarrass their charge here, after all. Just overzealous teens who chose the strangest things to obsess over. 

“Okay, yes. And maybe someday, but right now, I think you’re just stressing him out.” The samurai told them softly, “He texted me asking for a rescue…” Jay’s smile faded as he realized that yes, maybe it wasn’t such a great idea after all. 

“Oh. My phone. I was wondering where it had disappeared to…” Kai replied, equally quiet. 

“Yep. Let’s just focus on finding him some real clothes for now, okay?” The others nodded their assent. It wasn’t like he could wear a onsie 24-7, anyway. Searching the nearby racks for anything that looked like it might possibly fit the green ninja after his recent growth spurt, they did their best to locate items that were a bit more practical. Soon, there was an impressive pile waiting for him. 

“So… There a sale on green things today, or something?” Lloyd asked awkwardly when he (finally) got up the courage to come out of hiding and see what the others had found. 

“Er… No.” Kai explained slowly, “We just thought, maybe since all the rest of us wear a lot of the same color, that maybe it would be easier if you did too…” 

“But if you don’t like it…?” Added Jay. The blond stared at the options before him for a moment, then shook his head. 

“Nah… I-it’s fine. I’ll go start trying things on, I guess…” He grabbed several items and disappeared back into the changing stall, mouthing a quick thank you to Nya. As he tried on the final ensemble a short while later, Lloyd did have to admit that he looked halfway decent in the things they had selected for him. At the very least, he definitely looked less like a hobo than he had when dressed in the miscellaneous borrowed (mostly from Kai and Jay) garments that had made up his wardrobe the past few days. Which hadn’t really fit – or matched. At all. That didn’t stop the blond from feeling very...Weird when he stared at his reflection, though. Almost like a completely different person was looking back at him...Oh, what he’d give to wear his trusty black hoodie just one last time… 

“You gonna let us have a look?” He could hear Nya calling, snapping him back to the present. The thought that he should probably hope that none of the other shoppers were being bothered by his siblings’ shenanigans briefly crossed his mind. Because, they were loud and crazy, and kinda embarrassing sometimes. But they had brought him here and been understanding enough to back down when he refused to even try on the onsie, so he figured he might as well give in to the request. This time. 

“Fine. Be out in a sec.” There was a collective gasp when they saw him wander awkwardly back into view. Being dressed in so much green obviously suited him. Even if it also drew an unnecessary amount of attention to how grown up he looked. 

“Not too shabby, greenie.” Cole commented, breaking the silence. 

“Something’s missing.” Remarked Nya, thoughtfully. She dashed from the changing room without another word. What on earth was she doing? They waited curiously for the girl to return, wondering exactly what she thought could be missing from Lloyd’s new look. Reappearing a few minutes later with a dark green fedora, she placed it gently on her baby brother’s head and said, 

“There. Now you look perfect.” 

“Indeed.” Agreed Zane with a smile. He had a feeling the hat was going to be one of the youth’s favorite belongings. Lloyd’s eyes were glued to the nearest mirror. 

“So, whaddya think? Nya’s got awesome taste, huh?” Kai nudged his brother, attempting to get an actual response out of him. 

“I-I… Yeah. Thanks guys. You know, for helping me with all of this? Cause I definitely wouldn’t’ve wanted to come here on my own... Because...” 

“We know. And we’re also your family. We weren’t gonna let you do this alone. Besides, the whole point of coming here was to have fun.” He was reminded by Nya. For a split second, his eyes seemed a bit more watery than usual, but that was all. Then, he smiled. 

“Truth. C’mon guys, let’s go pay for this stuff so we have time to get popcorn before the movie. And maybe some peach rings? Do you s’pose the movie theatre has any?” 

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

As with many moments in life, everything was going great– until it wasn’t. There were no warning signs, no earth shattering snake attacks, or betrayals from members of the nobility, but the effect was just as profound. Lloyd had almost entirely forgotten why they were in the mall in the first place by the time the credits for Starfarer Episode V rolled. Hyped up on sugar and buttery goodness, all of them were in an impressively good mood. Nya had been right; he did need this. 

“Can you believe that plot twist?” Jay asked animatedly as they exited the theater. 

“Right? Not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that.” The green ninja vehemently agreed, munching on some left over popcorn. 

“I just hope they clarify the ending in the next one. Don’t remember the comics being so difficult to follow…” His fiery older brother commented, looking slightly confused. The plot had been a bit more complicated than the previous movies… Getting to see it in theater had been so fun, though. They didn’t get to do things like this very often, which was a real shame. 

“Oh, I’m sure they will. Otherwise the entire fandom’ll rebel.” The ninja of lightning assured them. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that everything went wrong. 

“Hey! Aren’t those the ninja?” Someone nearby exclaimed, recognizing the group. They froze. Curse their inability to remain inconspicuous… 

“Yeah, I think so? But the green one looks taller.” The companion of the person who had spotted them noted. 

“Hm… You’re right. Maybe that means they’re gonna take out Lord Garmadon here pretty soon. I mean, FSM knows we can’t handle another attack like that one with the snake. People died, man!” And that was the end of any stability Lloyd might’ve possessed. Everything came crashing down around him in one fell swoop. He didn’t hear anything else that was said; ears ringing, he stumbled forward, spraying what was left of his bucket of popcorn onto the floor. As onlookers stared in surprise, he only had the presence of mind to realize that suddenly – he wasn’t breathing normally anymore. Oxygen failed to make its way to his lungs. What was happening to him? Why couldn’t he catch his breath? Gasping for air like a fish out of water, he was vaguely aware of someone helping him stagger to a nearby bench, while other blurry figures attempted to shoo away the crowd that had started to gather. The room was spinning… Why was it spinning? 

“Hey. Look at me. We’re here. We’re not going anywhere. It’s gonna be alright…” Nya whispered, squeezing his arm. He wasn’t sure how she’d ended up sitting next to him. Weird. 

“Okay. Here’s what were gonna do,” Apparently Jay was there too, “Just focus on matching my breathing. In… Now out… In… Now out.” Lloyd continued to hyperventilate and splutter like a madman for a few minutes before the ninja of lightning’s tactic began to pay off. 

“Good. Now, I want you to look around you… Just… Find five things that you can see. That’s all you have to do…” Jay spoke quietly. The blond stared at him, heart rate still well above normal. 

“T-there’s a uh… P-potted plant? A-and… a s-sign…. A shopping c-cart… s-some sort of statue… A-and i-is that a… photobooth…?” 

“Good job, buddy! Now… how about four things you can touch? Think you can handle that?” His brother encouraged. 

“T-the bench… and… the wall b-behind us… a-a… uh… shopping bag… d-do people count?” Gasp. 

“Sure. You’re doing great… Three things you can hear.” He closed his eyes, listening. This was starting to do... Something… 

“T-there’s a fountain… somewhere… a-and some sort o-of music… oh. And somebody’s got a baby w-with them…?” 

“You’re almost there… Two things you can smell?” With his breathing less sporadic, he took a risk and inhaled deeply, hoping it wouldn’t cause him to choke. It didn’t. 

“I… The chlorine… from the fountain…T-there must be a take out p-place nearby. I smell noodles, too…” 

“So close! Just one more to go… Something you can taste.” Lloyd felt Nya press something small and round into his hand. 

“A… uh, peach ring…” 

“Better?” Jay inquired tentatively. He gave a watery smile, all of the sudden very much aware that his eyes had been leaking this whole time. Still feeling a bit weird and shaky, he replied, 

“Y-yeah. A, uh, little. How did you know w-what to do? When I started...” 

“Oh, you know me… Always freakin’ out about something…” Was all the teen would say. Which made an unfortunate amount of sense. 

“Thank you, guys… I-I don’t know… what that was, but…” 

“Hey, you’d do the same for us. Already have…” His sister assured him, reaching up to wipe his face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. 

“I hated that. Is this what it’s always like?” He asked, dreading the answer, but not quite sure what he was even asking. His companions glanced at each other. 

“Well, nah. Not most of the time… There are just days where… Things aren’t great, but we just gotta roll with the punches…” Jay replied eventually. 

“O-oh.” 

“Lloyd? Listen, I’m sorry things turned out like this. It was my idea. And maybe you weren’t quite ready to-” The samurai began, looking like she wanted to punch something. Sometimes, Lloyd wasn’t sure how Nya managed to keep it together with all the grief her family must cause her. 

“H-hey. If I’m not allowed to self blame all the time, then neither are you.” He mumbled. No matter how rough the past few minutes had been, the last thing he needed was for anyone to feel guilty… 

“And it was fun… Well… Most of it… Right now I just really wanna go home…” She pulled him into a side hug at this admittance, fully understanding how he felt. This poor kid seriously needed to catch a break, didn’t he? 

“Can’t say I blame you… Think you’re up to surviving the walk to the exit? We can probably convince Zane to pull the car around so you don’t have to go as far. Panic attacks can really take a lot out of you and I don’t want to risk…” 

“Yeah, okay… I... i-if you don’t think he’ll mind…?” The blond conceded, not trusting himself to make it much of anywhere without… Crashing. Again. Jay shook his head, exasperated, but unsurprised. 

“You gotta stop thinkin’ like that. Of course he’ll be cool with it. I’ll go let the others know what’s up. You just sit here and chill a little longer, alright?” He ordered, patting Lloyd’s head as he made his way over to the others, who appeared increasingly concerned every time they glanced in their direction. They chatted anxiously for a few moments before the ninja of lightning sent them a thumbs up. 

“So, we’re gonna go ahead and grab the car. We’ll text you when we get to the entrance.” Kai informed them before the group of brightly colored ninja headed for the parking lot. He shared a soft look with his sister, the kind which communicated everything that needed to be said between them. Nya would stay here as Lloyd’s emotional anchor, and he would usher the others out of the building as fast as humanly possible. And then, later, they would discuss what had gone down and figure out what to do next. Good, yes. That was really the best course of action, here. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Was the only thing the samurai spoke aloud. He nodded, and then they were gone. An awkward silence followed, Lloyd simply relieved that he would be able to remove himself to the safety of the Bounty, and Nya hoping that her baby brother would perk up once he was safely wearing his seatbelt and speeding away from their current location. 

“So... Uh... I appreciate you staying with me...” The blond told her after a few minutes had passed. 

“Psh. Like I’d ever leave you alone in a place like this! Just think of all the candy you’d buy if I weren’t here to supervise!” She replied, ruffling his hair. 

“Fair point… Still, you and Jay? You really saved my butt back there… I felt awful and…” 

“Green bean, I really worry about you sometimes… But let’s focus on getting you home safely for now... I won’t let anything else happen. I promise.” Lloyd tried to ignore the first part of what she’d said, because it was basically like telling him that water was wet – he’d had enough lectures from her to ensure that he never forgot how protective she could be. The rest of her words, though, were very comforting. 

“Guess we should start walking, huh?” He asked, attempting to stand. 

“If you’re ready?” She grabbed his elbow, guiding him onto his feet when it became obvious that he was still a little wobbly. 

“The sooner we get outta here, the better.” The two navigated across the atrium to the nearest exit. A few people stared at them, but Nya’s subtle glares were enough to keep anyone from approaching them. 

“Perfect timing,” The samurai commented, checking her phone to see that the others would be pulling up any minute. 

“Mhm. Don’t care what anyone else says. My family’s the best.” The green ninja declared. He followed his sister into the waiting vehicle. Everything was going to be okay.


	12. Chapter 12

“What on earth happened to your face?” Nya gasped, when she found Lloyd in the Bounty’s infirmary, nursing the beginnings of a particularly nasty looking black eye. She had just returned from a self-designated samurai x mission and was on her way to the kitchen in search of a snack. His skin was already starting to turn a yellowy purple color; this was going to leave an impressive bruise. A really impressive one. It had been several days since their trip to the mall and the others had begun attempting to get the blonde back into the habit of training with them. Had someone punched him a little too hard? Because, if so, they’d definitely be hearing from her about it. 

“Uh… I fell into a doorknob?” She stared at him in stunned silence, questioning whether or not she’d heard him right. If there had been a cricket nearby, this would have been the perfect time for it to start chirping. 

“Could you repeat that?” The samurai asked after a moment. 

“I fell into a doorknob.” He replied resignedly. His lack of coordination was really starting to get old. 

“You fell into a doorknob?” She repeated, eyebrows raised. His face reddened. 

“See? It even sounds stupid when you say it…” He groaned. 

“Sorry… I just. How did you even?” Nya inquired, admittedly concerned by the revelation. 

“Don’t ask…” The blonde mumbled, looking away momentarily. 

“Okaaay? I won’t. So, how did training go – or is that off limits too?” 

“Better than it could be, I guess.” Lloyd told his adoptive sister, “Getting pretty tired of my current relationship with gravity, though.” Not for the first time, images of clumsy golden retriever puppies filled Nya’s brain. She almost laughed. Oops. That probably wasn’t the best thing to be thinking about just now. 

“Will I ever get back to being normal?” 

“Because normal is a thing we have so much experience with, huh, green bean?” She reminded him teasingly. He rolled his eyes. Coming to stand next to the youth, the girl continued with a sigh, 

“Hey, try not to stress about it so much. You’re not the first clumsy person to walk the face of the earth, and you definitely won’t be the last. It takes time to grow into yourself, and you know I’ll dropkick anyone who teases you about it. Now, lemme take a look at that eye?” The green ninja complied with the request and slowly lowered the (mostly melted) baggie of ice from his face. Ouch. 

“Hm… I think you’ll live,” Decided Nya as she carefully inspected the injury. 

“Good to know. I was super worried about dying. Cause what would the others think if I got taken out by a door?” Lloyd deadpanned, “It would be so embarrassing. Just imagine the headlines – Local Green Ninja Murdered Viciously During Run In With Inanimate Object.” His companion giggled. It was good to see him joking around again. 

“How about Favorite Baby Brother Becomes Ridiculous Drama Queen, you goof? But you are gonna be a bit sore for a coupl’a days. And you’ll probably want more ice, while we’re at it. Try not to get yourself into any more trouble while I grab some, okay?” She commented, leaving him to brainstorm even more ridiculous newspaper titles – because, what the heck? They were brilliant and entertaining. And... Maybe it was also distracting him from the constant throbbing of his face...Okay, yeah, that too... 

As Nya wandered down the hall, towards the kitchen, where she knew she would be able to locate more ice, she found herself in the company of her brother and boyfriend, who had just exited the training room. 

“So,” She began after greetings (and a quick kiss for Jay) had been exchanged, “A doorknob. Do I even want to know how Lloyd managed that?” The duo glanced at each other. 

“It was like a moment out of one of those reality TV shows where the people are on some horrendous obstacle course that’s out to get them.” The ninja of lightning commented animatedly. 

“One second, he was on his way to refill his water bottle, and the next, he was flying through the air – prolly’ tripped over his own feet again—and then, bam! Right into the door, face first and everything.” Kai explained. They all cringed; the incident didn’t paint a particularly pretty picture. 

“Ouch.” 

“Yeah, it looked like it hurt.” Jay agreed. 

“Of course it did! You should see the bruise he’s got. Did none of you think to maybe keep an eye on him after that?” The samurai questioned, looking unimpressed. 

“We-ell… In our defense, he did say he could handle it himself?” Said Jay, awkwardly scratching his head. She pressed her fingers to her temples, exasperated. 

“He literally grabbed a plastic bag and put maybe 10 ice cubes in it? It was pretty much completely melted by the time I came along... We better add first aid to the list of things he needs to learn how to do competently.” Nya stated, stepping into the kitchen. She immediately sought out the ice packs she knew they kept in the freezer - they’d be much more effective than a few measly ice cubes had been so far. Satisfied, she turned back to the others. 

“Ah, that’s more like it. I'd better go give this to Lloyd before he has a chance to cause himself any more pain. Anybody know where Cole is? I have some ideas for tomorrow’s training session I want to run by him.” 

“Uh… Are you sure Cole’s the best person to ask about first aid?” Her brother questioned. Both Kai and Jay seemed a bit skeptical. She shook her head. 

“Oh, I have something else in mind for him. It’s… Well, you’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t you…” 

…................................................................................................................................................ 

“Are you sure this is necessary?” Lloyd complained the next morning, giving his loose attire one last (very self-conscious) glance. Their usual training regime had been forgone in favor of something a little less… Orthodox – at least, in his opinion. The training dummies and other miscellaneous equipment had been pushed against the walls to make room for their venture. 

“I mean… We’re not gonna force you, but yeah, we think it’ll help. We wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise.” Nya told him, reaching up to ruffle his hair. 

“But I wasn’t that good at it to begin with. And to be honest? I wasn’t exactly paying attention most of the time…” He worried. 

“Trust me, we know. Just remember what I told you before.” Commented Cole, unconcerned. The blonde stared at him. 

“That I should never eat cake out of the fridge without asking first?” He joked. The master of earth rolled his eyes as Jay gave the youth a high five. 

“No. That football players do different styles of dance all the time to help with balance and stuff. And that we won’t judge you, no matter how much you suck at it.” 

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence…” 

“Be glad I’m not making you do river dance. That stuff’s way more challenging… You’ll be fine. Just show me what you remember. First position – ballet.” The teen instructed. Lloyd scrambled into something that felt… like it might sort of resemble something to do with a position of some kind. Catching the way Cole was looking at him, he sighed. 

“I’m doing it wrong, aren’t I?” 

“Not… Not completely,” he replied patiently, “You just got the order mixed up a bit is all. Your feet are angled great, but they’re a liiittle to far apart to count as first position. What you got right now is really more like second.” 

“Oh.” The green ninja adjusted his stance. 

“That’s better! Now your arms go like this.” Cole demonstrated. He reluctantly followed along. So far so good. 

“Okay, what about third?” Lloyd did his best to dredge his memories of dance instruction from the dark forgotten corner they’d been relegated to. He surprised himself by actually remembering which foot was supposed to go in front. 

“Not bad,” The raven haired ninja commented, gently adjusting his arms, “What about the rest of you?” He asked pointedly. 

“Us?” Kai responded warily. 

“Uh, yeah. You didn’t think I was gonna let you let you stand there and watch while we did all the hard stuff, didja?” 

“I agree. It would be way more fun if I weren’t doing this by myself, guys...” Lloyd agreed, looking pleadingly at his adoptive brother. 

“Sure. That’s just what I was hoping to do with my morning.” The master of fire said sarcastically, trying to resist the puppy eyes (because Nya’s comparison was spot on, honestly, and the kid was still an expert at getting his older siblings to do his bidding). 

“It cannot be worse than having to perform while battling snakes,” Zane pointed out, a hint of enthusiasm obvious, “And I, for one, find dancing exhilarating.” 

“Good for you, buddy…” A bemused master of lightning decided, reaching for his girlfriend’s hand and twirling her with a wink. 

“Though I actually prefer a good waltz or tango to boring old ballet, myself.” She giggled lightly, grabbing his other hand. 

“Ballet is not boring…” Jay heard his best friend say, but he ignored him. They attempted to take a turn around the room in a complex series of lunges and spins. Flying across the floor, the pair looked glorious and epic and way cooler than anything Lloyd would’ve been able to pull off, but it wasn’t long before a, 

“Hey! You stepped on my foot!” Followed by a, 

“Sorry! You’re supposed to let me lead…” Could be heard. The pair smiled at each other sheepishly. 

“Okay, maybe we should focus on the basics for now…” Admitted Jay. Nya nodded breathlessly, still grimacing slightly from being trod upon. Kai shrugged, realizing that he wasn’t going to get away with protesting. Someone needed to keep an eye on those two, anyway. 

“Might as well get started, then.” 

They ended up having to do a significant amount of backtracking due to the fact that most of the group hadn’t been subjected to any form of structured dance instruction since their brother unlocked his true potential. And also because Cole insisted on spending a good 15 minutes stretching, since, as any dancer worth their salt knows, one should always make sure to warm up properly before engaging in any form of rigorous activity. It can save you a lot of time – and pain – later. He did, however, have music playing in the background the entire time, which made things slightly more enjoyable. 

“Jay? What are you doing?” Zane asked at one point during their stretching routine. The energetic blue ninja was bent at an angle that would have been impossible for most people. 

“I’m stretching?” He replied, looking slightly confused. 

“Well, yes, I can see that. But I can assure you, it is not normal for you to be able to bend your arms so far in that direction… Doesn’t it hurt?” 

“Well, no. Not really. I’m double jointed, remember? I do this all the time…” Jay informed them nonchalantly. 

“How have I never noticed this before?” Lloyd, who wasn’t sure if he should be fascinated or grossed out, wondered aloud. 

“Well, usually, we don’t spend quite so much time stretching, so you wouldn’t’ve necessarily had a reason to see his weirdness in action. Though, we probably should be doing it more often if we don’t wanna end up with pulled muscles during a fight.” Observed the ninja of earth. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. 

“Okay, no offense, but you’re getting closer and closer to being just plain disgusting…” Kai complained as his curly haired brother bent one of his arms even further to illustrate his point. 

“Aaaand this is when I remind everyone to focus… I know that might be super hard for some of you, but I’d kinda like to be done in time for dinner… Zane promised he’d make cake ! And I think we’re good for now, so moving on…” Cole asserted, deciding that they were sufficiently prepared to continue. He began drilling them on various dance forms. First came the basic ballet positions – there may have been a small amount of cheating involved, as Kai and Jay were clearly copying whatever their companions were doing. The green ninja did his best to follow along as new moves were demonstrated, trying his hardest not to lose his balance too many times. Zane and Nya looked a bit too happy to be participating, and, unlike some of the others, were actually capable of catering to most of Cole’s demands. 

“Jay, could you try to look a little less like a tree? And Kai, loosen up a little. You look like you want to stab something…” 

“I do want to stab something!” The master of fire informed him, “And you sound just like your father when you talk like that…” 

“So this is what is what was like when you guys were competing for the fang blade?” Nya mused, still holding the position they’d been instructed to take with ease. She’d often wished she had been able to witness it all in person. 

“Pretty much. And, in case you were wondering, Zane was the star pupil then, too.” Her boyfriend interjected. 

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I was the star…” Zane protested. Jay gave up on maintaining his posture and waved a hand dismissively. 

“Psh… He totally woulda tried to recruit you for Marty Oppenheimer’s if you hadn’t been so focused on saving the world…” 

“Well, I’m glad he didn’t, as I would most definitely have refused. I would never leave my brothers.” The nindroid assured them. Kai punched his shoulder lightly. 

“Course you wouldn’t. You love us way too much to ditch us for a chance at fame and glory as a dancing prodigy…” 

“Take it as a compliment, bro. My father doesn’t think that highly of just anyone.” Cole added knowledgeable. He turned to Lloyd. 

“So, you ready to try something a bit more complicated?” 

“Do I have a choice?” 

“Nope. C’mon, we’re just gonna put together some of the stuff I’ve shown you so far. Like a couple of counts, that’s all.” The master of earth patted the golden-haired youth’s shoulder encouragingly. 

“O-okay. I’ll try. No promises, though. Knowing me, I’ll probably end up trampling someone or something.” 

“Hey, I’ve already done that, so you don’t have to worry about it.” Jay told him with a lopsided smile, which earned him an elbow to the ribs from Nya. He hissed in pain. 

“And now we’re even.” 

“Glad to see you two are enjoying yourselves.” 

“Oh, we are.” The samurai answered before her boyfriend could interject. 

“In that case, I’m sure you’d love to get a move on with things. I’ll show you a sequence of steps here in a minute, but first, we need to work on finding the correct rhythm. Most of the songs on my playlist are written in 4/4 time, which means that there are 4 beats per measure. It goes something like this,” Cole clapped out a beat for them with ease. Lloyd cocked his head, trying to connect the rhythm he had just seen enacted to the music that had been playing earlier. Clapity-clapity-clap? He gave his teacher a quizzical look. 

“Not exactly. It’s more like:” The ninja of earth repeated the beat. 

“Sorry? I don’t…” 

“That’s totally fine. We’ll try something else. You might feel a little silly, but that means it’s working, okay?” The blonde nodded, still looking a bit skeptical. Would whatever Cole had planned work? 

“I want you to close your eyes.” Cole instructed. 

“Close my-” His balance was iffy enough with his eyes open. Closing them could be a disaster. 

“Yep. I’m gonna start playing some music. Just listen for awhile. Try to feel the music flowing through you without any other distractions.” Though he’d much rather have given up entirely on this particular activity, Lloyd did as he was told. As he adjusted to his lack of vision, the youth heard a song he couldn’t quite place begin to play. The master of earth happily hummed along in the background, clearly very familiar with the tune. 

“Dancing through life, swaying and sweeping, and always keeping cool. Life’s more painless for the brainless. Those who don’t try never look foolish…” 

“That doesn’t seem like a very nice thing to say…” Jay whispered. 

“It makes way more sense in context. Clearly you need to listen to more musicals.” Cole commented back. Although his time at Marty Oppenheimer has been anything but pleasant, his upbringing had ensured that the arts would always have a special place in his heart. He simply enjoyed them more when he wasn’t the one performing. 

“Sh…” Lloyd shushed them, “I think I’m starting to get the hang of this…” He let the music wash over him, enjoying the tale that was being told, though it was a little difficult to follow along without knowing the full story. It was relaxing, in some strange way, to just listen, without being able to see the world around him. Certainly, it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it’d be, even if he did have to shift his weight every so often in order to remain upright. Perhaps this would help him after all. Giving a few experimental claps, he found that this way of listening for the beat was working much better for him than the previous attempt. Clapity – clap – clapity – clap. 

“There you go!” The master of earth cheered, “See? Told you it would work.” 

“Y-yeah. I guess you did. So, uh… What now? Do we keep our eyes closed?” Asked the youth as the song came to an end. 

“Good question.” Nya agreed. 

“For the time being? Yes. I’ll tell you when to open them. Gonna play another song. Let’s see how fast you can pick up the beat this time, guys.” Selecting another soundtrack to listen to, play, Cole observed his fellow ninja (and one samurai) as they continued practicing rhythm recognition. Something seemed to have clicked, for it took only a fraction of the amount of time that it had before for them to begin to make sense of what they were hearing. Lloyd’s clapping sounded much more confident this time, as did that of the others. 

“Good job. You can open your eyes, now, if you want. Try stepping and clapping in time to the music instead of just clapping out the beat.” He recommended once it was clear that they were ready to move on; it was great that everyone was picking up on the beat, but they needed to be able to do it while multitasking. This was the first step in doing so. Nya was the first to follow his suggestion, taking a moment to adjust to regaining her vision before confidently sidestepping. Zane quickly joined her, transitioning with little trouble. For a few moments, nobody else was brave enough to adopt the alternate form of keeping track of the rhythm. As he blinked slowly, trying not to let himself grow dizzy, Lloyd chose the wrong moment to begin moving and ended up bumping into Kai, who had yet to open his eyes. He let out an indignant huff of pain. 

“Can we maybe not turn dancing into a contact sport?” 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…” 

“I know… just. Be careful. We don’t need anyone getting hurt right now…” The ninja of fire sighed. Cole nodded in agreement. 

“Which is why we need to keep working. The sooner we get your center of balance back, the better.” 

“Right, then. What next?” Asked the green ninja, resigned to suffering through any remaining discomfort if it meant having a chance at being able to walk more than ten feet without faceplanting. 

“I’m thinkin’ something that’ll require some footwork. A chasse ending with a ball change maybe?” The former dancer showed him a galloping movement to the side, followed by a sort of backwards step weight shift (Lloyd’s technical knowledge of dance terminology left a lot to be desired). Attempting to copy what Cole had just shown them, Lloyd made it through about three fourths of the sequence before his feet became hopelessly entangled. He landed on the floor in a heap, groaning in frustration. 

“It’s okay, Lloyd,” The master of earth said, pulling him back up, “Try it again. I know you can do this.” 

“But…” 

“I’ll catch you if you fall, I promise.” The Golden haired youth stumbled clumsily again, and again. And again. But Cole, ever patient, was in his element as a teacher. He somehow managed to guide his feet back under him each time, preventing him from taking any more unwanted spills. 

“I think you’re ready to try it on your own, now.” He told him, finally. The others had seemingly mastered the move and were observing the interaction with interest. Lloyd gave him an anxious look. 

“A-re you sure? I don’t wanna end up with another black eye…” 

“I believe in you, kid. It’s like the song said earlier, just keep dancing through. Go for it.” The green ninja bit his lip, silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, and thrust himself into executing the motions that made up the move. And… for once, he didn’t feel like the world’s most klutzy human. 

“Hey… I didn’t fall… I didn’t fall!” He declared excitedly. 

“Told ya! You just needed a bit of practice!” Cole commented with a grin. 

“That was great, Lloyd!” Nya told him, stepping over to ruffle his hair. 

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.” Admitted Kai. 

“Yeah, maybe we should always have dancing as part of our training.” Jay agreed. 

“Er… Now… Is that really necessary?” The ninja of fire shot back. 

“Balance is an important part of being a ninja.” Observed Zane, trying to keep the peace. 

“I… Could we maybe try this again tomorrow?” Lloyd asked Cole. 

“If you want to. It’s gonna take a little more time to get your coordination back completely, anyways. I think we’ve had enough for today, though. Let’s go see if we can find some cookies or something. You’ve earned it!” 

“Thanks, guys. For being willing to do stuff like this with me. And for being so patient. I really appreciate it…” 

“Anything for you, green bean.” His adoptive sister assured him, “C’mon. I think cookies sound great.”


	13. Chapter 13

“This is Misako, Lloyd’s mother...” 

Lloyd felt as though he’d been punched. His mother? The person who had left him at Darkley’s, forcing him to suffer… a lot of torment, if he were really being honest with himself? This was too much... He couldn’t... The braided woman stared at him. He choked out a startled, 

“My... My mother?” 

“Ah. Lloyd? My little boy. You're so much bigger than I remember...” She told him, stepping forward. Well. That did it. There was no way he could handle this right now. She had left him... On purpose, and it hurt... He felt dizzy and sluggish. What was it Jay had told him that day in the mall? Focus on your breathing...in and out. In and out... Yeah, breathing was definitely important. Lloyd sucked in a gulp of fresh air. Slightly better. He really didn’t need to have a meltdown in the middle of the museum when there were living figurines on the loose. Could this day possibly get any stranger? Wait - no. He really, really didn’t want to know the answer to that. She reached towards him, intending to grab his arm. He glared. 

“Yeah, well, it’s been a long time.” The blonde replied quickly, in a voice tinged with the slightest trace of bitterness. 

“I didn't want us to meet like this. I have a reason why I've been away.” Misako said. 

“Well, I don’t wanna hear it.” Lloyd wrenched his arm away from her and fled from the room, already feeling hot tears dripping down his cheeks. There was no way he could face his estranged mother any longer. Not today, and possibly not ever. He raced down the slightly cluttered hallway before dashing through a door to his left. The room on the other side was blessedly empty. For now, at least. Someone would probably come looking for him here pretty soon. He just… really needed some time alone first… Some tapestries hung along the far wall, but that wasn’t what his attention was drawn to. Surrounded by a rope fence, with a warning sight not to far away, a gaping hole in the center of the room could be seen. Feeling reckless, he moved closer. Just how deep was this pit? He wondered, peering down when he stood not far from the edge. It seemed to go on forever… Lloyd sank down, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the dampness from his eyes. He swung his legs over the side and relaxed slightly in the calm, quiet atmosphere of the room. The blonde knew it was probably a dangerous place to hang out, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Unfortunately, his suspicions had been correct. A few minutes later, he heard someone’s echoey footsteps drawing near him. He’d been discovered (hopefully it wasn’t Kai or Zane. He’d get a length lecture about his lack of self preservation instincts from either of them if they caught him like this). Turning slightly, he saw that it was… his mother. Just his luck. She called his name with a sense of urgency. What now? 

//////////////////////////////// 

Nya has been added to the “Misak-no!” groupchat 

Nya: What the heck is a misak-no? 

Kai: So. Don’t like freak out or anything, but. We might have kinda sorta found Lloyd’s deadbeat mom. 

Kai: Maybe. 

Nya: WhaT?!!!!!!! 

Jay: It was an accident. She was at the museum. 

Nya: Please tell me someone kicked her stupid butt to the moon? 

Kai: Unfortunately no… 

Jay: Sensei pulled a dumb and invited her to come back with us… 

Nya: Haha. Good one. 

Jay: It’s not a joke. 

Nya: No. This. isn’t. happening. 

Kai: it is. Wanna set fire to her bedding later? 

Nya: Do u even have to ask? 

Jay: not sure thats a great idea, but ok. 

Nya: Ur either in or out. What’s it gonna be, sparky? 

Jay: fine. But let’s check on the kid 1rst. 

Kai: Yeah. Ok. Smart plan. 

Nya: She’s going down if he says so much as ONE word about being upset. I swear on the fsm, guys. 

////\//// 

Lloyd was very much aware of the several pairs of eyes that were watching him closely as the group of ninja plus one unexpected (and only partially welcome) guest exited the museum. To miss them would have been impossible, but he was doing his best to pretend he hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice, anyway. Yes, he had a lot of stuff going on mentally right now, but there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it until they got home and he could go off and hide somewhere with a plate of cookies for a couple of hours. Provided they even had cookies at the moment; he lived with several ginormous sweet tooths (including himself), so finding sugar wasn’t necessarily a sure thing. Neither was privacy, for that matter. But his mother was back in his life, now, for better or worse. He just had to get used to it. And hope he didn’t make too many lightbulbs spontaneously explode while doing so. They really didn’t need to deal with that on top of everything else that had happened lately. And besides, they had talked… a little… He stepped out into the sun, brightening slightly as he felt its warmth on his face. At least the world around him didn’t reflect his current mood - whatever that might be. He wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling – his emotions were too jumbled and conflicting to make sense of. 

“So,” Misako began, glancing about awkwardly, “Where exactly is this Destiny’s Bounty of yours?” 

“I hope you like walking. It’s a few blocks away from here.” Lloyd told her. The weather had been too nice for them to justify borrowing Nya’s vehicle (again) when they had just saddled her with a sick (gross) Ultra Dragon. 

“I can live with that. I suppose it gives me plenty of time to hear what you’ve been up to lately...” “Well... I guess all of this kinda started when I got kicked out of school...” He said hesitantly, unsure if this was really the best time to get into the whole story. Or if he even wanted her to know about some of it at this point. Could he really allow himself to open up to her when she’d been absent for so long? 

“...Darkley’s kicked you out?” 

“Yeah.” And you would know that if you bothered to check in on me at any point after you abandoned me... Of course, Lloyd would never say the last part out loud, but the rebellious, slightly bitter part of him that was still screaming for him to call her out further was definitely tempted. Face falling, Misako seemed surprisingly upset by this revelation. He focused on maintaining his balance, unwilling to meet her eyes, and not wanting to face plant in front of her, either. His coordination had improved greatly, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Not today. She really didn’t need to know how hard it had been for him to… adjust, both physically and mentally. Not… not when she hadn’t been around for it herself. He had started to heal now, anyway. 

“I mean... I was homeless for awhile, and kinda released the Serpentine to get revenge on somebody cause they wouldn’t let me steal candy, and destroyed my totally epic tree house… but... I did end up getting to know uncle Wu, and the guys, and Nya – you'll meet her when we get back, she’s really cool – so. It definitely could’ve been worse, I guess...” He asserted, wondering, not for the first time, where he’d have ended up if they hadn’t found him. Certainly, he would never have gained such amazing adoptive siblings. One of whom was currently attempting to send him a subtle thumbs up. He rolled his eyes at the culprit – Jay. Still. He could live with their antics if it mean he’d be surrounded by people who actually cared. 

“I’m… glad you haven’t been on your own this whole time...” Misako offered, having a feeling she was going to hear quite a few… colorful truths from her estranged son. She’d been gone far, far too long… 

“Yup! Green Bean’s got plenty of honorary brothers to keep him outta trouble.” Cole agreed, edging closer to Lloyd in a show of support. It was nice to know his family wasn’t gonna let him face this on his own. Even if they were being incredibly obvious about it. 

“I still don’t understand why you insist on calling him that.” Wu interjected wryly, walking beside the blonde’s mother. 

“Nicknames among those who are close are very common, Sensei. And Lloyd does wear an impressive amount of green. It suits him.” Zane observed with a pleasant smile. The others nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah. Just wait til you see his fedora.” Kai stated, smirking. 

“A fedora?” Misako repeated, eyebrow raised. 

“Yeah, mom. Some people think fez’s are cool. I think fedoras are cool.” 

“We were gonna get him a dragon onsie, but he turned us down.” The green ninja rolled his eyes. Again. This was gonna be a long walk. 

“For a reason, Kai. It would’ve been embarrassing. And I thought you wanted to hear about ninja stuff, not my taste in fashion.” He complained loudly, turning a corner. 

“O-of course. Though, if you happen to have any pictures of this onsie, I'd love to see them sometime.” 

“Sadly, we don’t. But we do have some great pics of his bowl cut phase!” Jay informed the archaeologist. Seriously? Lloyd thought. Weren’t they supposed to be on his side? 

“Oh dear.” 

“It was pretty bad...” Kai said, emphasizing his words unnecessarily. The youth cringed. 

“Hey! Why don’t we talk about Cole’s ballet skills, or how Zane’s a nindroid, or literally anything. But. This. Okay?” Thankfully, his mother chose to have mercy on him and decided not to pursue the somewhat humiliating topic further. He had to give her credit for that, at least. Even if she’d done pretty much nothing else deserving of it. 

“Those all sound fascinating, Lloyd. Clearly a lot has happened since your uncle found you.” 

“That’s… Kinda the understatement of the century. See, this Anacondrai named Pythor – he was a major jerk - stole the map with all the Serpentine tombs on it from me, so then we had to…” Lloyd rambled on and on (with the others jumping in as needed, since there were some things he couldn’t explain on his own), attempting to explain it all while glossing over the more traumatizing parts, because maybe if he just kept talking, he’d forget about the awkwardness of the situation. Forget the unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach that stemmed from years of resentment towards a parent he barely even knew. Just a few more blocks, that was all. He could do this. 

//\// 

A raven haired girl was waiting on the deck of the Bounty for them when the group returned. She caught sight of Misako and immediately frowned. There had been a part of her that was still secretly hoping that her brother and boyfriend had been pranking her, but that was obviously not the case. 

“The Ultra Dragon is feeling much better, now. You’re welcome, by the way.” She shouted down at them. 

“Thanks for taking care of him for me! We… it was for a good cause, I promise! There was this giant stone warrior that came to life. And an entire gift shop, too...” Lloyd called back apologetically, temporarily ignoring the presence of his mother. It was a relief to be home. 

“Well, that’s not something you hear every day... You guys owe me all the details later. Now come aboard already,” Nya instructed. This was news to her; all the museum had told her over the phone was literally just that ‘you’d have to see it to believe it’. 

“It’s getting late, and I am not interested in taking over your cooking duties. One sick dragon was plenty for me to deal with today, thank you very much.” 

“Sure thing, sis.” Kai said, giving her a look that probably meant no straight up murder on sight. She rolled her eyes. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. But, she was fully prepared to roast the living daylights out of this woman (both figuratively and literally) if she so much as looked at her baby brother the wrong way. As the others made their way onto the Bounty, Nya watched Lloyd carefully, doing her best to gage the level of damage control that would be necessary by the end of the day. If she were lucky, the batch of cookies she’d thrown together earlier would go a long way towards cheering him up. He was obviously a bit out of it. 

“There’s a fresh pan of cookies on the kitchen table,” Nya quietly mentioned to the blonde when he arrived on the deck. He smiled gratefully, recognizing what she was trying to accomplish. 

“Now that we’re all back in one piece, I should probably go help Zane get started with the cooking. I’m sure uncle Wu would love to give you a tour, though.” The green ninja told his mother apologetically. Zane shot him a confused look. 

“I was not aware that I was-” He started to say, before catching on, “Oh. Right, yes. I do in fact require Lloyd’s assistance… in the kitchen… for at least an hour.” 

“Oh. Well, Wu and I have a lot of work to do anyway I suppose. I’ll find him eventually. You go help with dinner.” Misako said looking slightly disappointed. The ninja dispersed, leaving Lloyd’s mother and Nya alone on the deck. 

“So. You’re Lloyd’s mother.” The samurai stated in a surprisingly calm tone considering how little first impressions had done for her opinion of the woman. 

“And you must be Nya. Lloyd’s told me so much about you.” Misako replied awkwardly. 

“We have been the closest thing he had to a family for a long time…” Nya shamelessly pointed out. 

“I really appreciate your kindness towards him. I can tell he really looks up to you.” The older woman informed her. It should have been a compliment, but she couldn’t bring herself to simply accept it and move on. 

“Yeah, well, when your mother abandons you, forcing you to stay at a sketchy boarding school crawling with bullies that beat you up on a daily basis, giving you enough anxiety and trust issues to last you years, you gotta find positive role models wherever you can.” She snapped. Misako stiffened. 

“Oh… Oh no… I… He didn’t tell me it was so awful there… I never mean to…. ” She whispered. 

“Of course he didn’t say anything…” Nya told her, “you’ve only been back in his life for what? An hour? He doesn’t even willingly talk about those things with us, and he trusts us way more than you… You left him! Clearly you have no idea how damaging that was!” 

“O-oh. I-I never meant to…” 

“Look,” The girl commented, running her forehead, “I don’t like you. If it were up to me, or Kai, or literally anyone else, you wouldn’t be here right now. But I care about Lloyd and respect his decisions, and I want him to have some closure so he can finally move on and heal from what happened so I’m gonna do my best to put my feelings for you aside and be nice to you. But if you ever do anything to hurt him? Everything I just said goes out the window. I will not hesitate to make your life a living hell.” Misako sighed heavily and stepped closer to Nya. 

“I… have made a great many mistakes over the years, and I have no doubt that I will make more in the future. Honestly, I’m surprised any of you are letting me within 15 feet of him. I would comply understand if you asked me to leave, right here, right now. And I know that I will probably never be able to make up for my years of absence, but I want to try to have some sort of relationship with my son, if it’s not already too late.” The raven-haired girl regarded her quietly for a few moments before replying, as if trying to determine whether or not she was being genuine. 

“An apology is as good a place as any to start.” Nya noted simply, before vanishing into the bowels of the flying ship. 

Nya found Lloyd perched atop the roof of the uppermost portion of the Bounty, hoarding a plate full of cookies a few minutes later. How on earth had he even gotten up there? She wondered. It probably wasn’t worth dwelling on, considering his tendency to locate bizarre hiding spots whenever the need struck him, but it was still a bit surprising to find him up here of all places. 

“Enjoying my hard work?” She asked him, smirking slight. 

“Yeah. I…. Yeah.” 

“How’d you manage to get these up here?” The samurai wondered, snagging a cookie for herself. 

“My amazing cat like reflexes?” Lloyd offered. She raised an eyebrow, thinking back to the doorknob incident a few days back. There was still a trace of bruising around one of his eyes. 

“Okay, fine. I got like really, really lucky.” 

“Now that, I can believe.” Nya commented, ruffling the blonde’s hair. Lloyd sobered slightly. 

“So. You, uh… talked to my mom.” It wasn’t a question. 

“I did. I’m not gonna lie – I was very honest with her. About a lot of things.” She told him. 

“O-okay…” 

“She knows about what…what happened while you were at Darkley’s. And maybe I should have asked you first, but… I just…. I wanted her to understand that it was going to be a long time before you were going to ready to truly trust her. To understand how damaging it was to…” Lloyd stared out across the horizon for awhile, watching the sky as it started to turn a fiery shade of pinkish red. 

“It’s alright... She needed to know, and I’m not sure I would’ve told her anytime soon, to be honest...” He stated eventually. She gave him a sidelong glance, and held out a cookie. He accepted it with a weak smile. 

“How… Are you feeling? About...?” Lloyd had heard these words from Nya far, far too often. So many of their conversations these days seemed to follow this familiar pattern. But he was grateful for these quiet moments in which the emotions of a rough day could be expressed to someone who understood. They helped keep him sane. And he suspected that Kai and Nya knew a lot more than they let on about having family members disappear without bothering to say anything. 

“I was so angry at first…. It all felt… like… like everything was crashing down around me. She showed up so suddenly and I just… I couldn’t take it. And I ran away… b-but… she still found me and tried to talk and then the stone warrior attacked and it was all so…. Much and…. Do you think he knew? Do you think Wu knew she’d be there? Why didn’t he warn me?” All the words spilled out of Lloyd’s mouth in a torrent of disconnected fragments of conversation. The raven haired teen scooted closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders (once again ignoring the significance difference in size from just a few short weeks ago). He leaned against her gratefully. 

“I-I dunno, Lloyd… I really don’t... But I doubt he meant for it to hurt you like this if he did…” 

“He’s the one who invited her to come back with us and…. What was I supposed to say? That I wasn’t really comfortable with having the person who ditched me at Darkley’s living under the same roof? I mean, sure, we talked. Some… but… it wasn’t really enough for me to…” 

“Want to forgive her?” Nya finished. He nodded. 

“No one’s asking you to do that… and if they do? Well… you know I’ll make sure nothing comes of it til you’re ready.” 

“Thanks, Nya. I think I needed to hear that.” 

“No problem. You’re family, Lloyd. I knew as soon as Kai and Jay texted me that today was gonna be rough. But we’ll get through this. I promise.” The green ninja almost laughed at his sister’s comforting words. 

“Of course. Of course they texted you. I shouldn’t even be surprised.” 

“They were worried about you… we may have plotted to set a certain archeologists stuff on fire…” Nya admitted. Lloyd wriggled around to face her. 

“You didn’t.” 

“Oh, I assure you, we did!” A voice said as a head of spiky brown hair came into view. 

“I tried to talk them out of it, just so you know.” Another voice commented. Kai and Jay. 

“Did you really think you could start this party without us?” 

“Uh… Hey guys… So. Are Cole and Zane coming up here, too? Cause I’m not sure there’s enough room up here for all of us…” Lloyd greeted awkwardly. 

“Nah, they should be cooking dinner right about now.” Kai informed him. Jay shrugged, taking a seat next to Nya. 

“Or at least, Zane’s cooking… Coles kinda just there for support?” 

“Shamelessly burning our best friends, I see?” Nya declared, elbowing her boyfriend. 

“Ouch. Someone better find some burn cream for Cole…” Kai agreed. 

“Oh, shut it you two… he doesn’t need to know anything about this. And besides, we came up here to check on Lloyd, anyway.” 

“Guys, I’m fine… ish…” The blonde protested, though he appreciated their concern. 

“Oh. Okay… then I guess you wouldn’t be interested in relieving me of this pack of peach rings I’ve been holding onto for a rainy day, then, huh?” Kai smirked, dangling the treat in front of his adoptive brother’s face. His eyes widened. 

“Fine, I take it back… maybe I’m still kinda upset about all of this…. Now gimme.” The master of fire lightly tossed him the treat, which he tore open immediately. His family definitely knew his weaknesses. He could never say no to candy. 

“So. Do we need to set something on fire?” 

“Not sure yet.” The green ninja confessed, mouth full of sugary goodness, “I’m still… trying to figure it all out, I guess? But I’ll keep you posted.” 

“Okay. But I’m telling you, I’ve been looking for something to use as kindling, and...” Kai started. Nya threw the gummy she’d been about to eat at his head. 

“Kai!” 

“What? I bet that ridiculous bandana of hers would make a glorious fire…” The teen mused jokingly. 

“Kai!” It was a horrified sounding Jay, this time. 

“Don’t worry, I’d be sure to remove it from around her neck first. Don’t wanna get arrested for murder so young, haha.” 

“Seriously, Kai. You sound like such a delinquent right now it’s not even funny. Just stop…” Lloyd told him, half laughing, and putting an end to the pyromaniac turn the conversation had taken. 

“Let’s just enjoy this sunset, and the rest of the sugar we’ve managed to smuggle up here, guys.” Nya suggested, smiling tiredly at her companions. It had been a long day for all of them. And sadly, it was unlikely that tomorrow would be any different. They needed to enjoy any peaceful moment they could get. 

“Yeah, okay. That sounds… Nice.” The blonde agreed. After admiring the striking colors that had been painted across the sky by some invisible hand in silence for awhile, he asked, 

“Why can’t it always be like this? It’s so beautiful out here right now… So calm…” 

“Dunno. Maybe it’s to keep us from taking it for granted?” Jay suggested quietly, “Like. If we saw too many cool sunsets, we’d lose our appreciation for them? That’s what ma always says.” 

“That makes sense.” Nya affirmed, reaching for another peach ring. 

“Yeah.” Lloyd said, a faraway look in his eyes. 

“I’m glad we’re all here to share it.” 

“Yeah. You suppose Zane and Cole have dinner finished yet?” The master of fire pondered. 

“Oh. Yeah. We should probably go check on them, huh?” Commented Jay reluctantly. Lloyd breathed deeply. 

“Could we stay here… just for a few more minutes….?” He begged. 

“Sure, Lloyd. We can do that.” Nya assured him. The others nodded. It was nice to feel so loved.


	14. Chapter 14

Lloyd was pretty sure that if there was an award for totally reckless bravery in near-death situations, Zane had just won it. He’d felt his heart drop when the nindroid dove overboard into the frothy ocean below, the dangers of losing a teammate (no, a brother) before they even made it to the Dark Island to confront his father suddenly very real. And this realization terrified him. His inner monolog of oh no, oh no, oh heck no had lasted way too long before he’d finally sighted the master of ice safely back on the deck of the Bounty again. He was pretty sure Zane had no idea how not okay they would have been if he hadn’t ultimately reappeared. Lloyd was barely holding himself together without this reminder that his adoptive family of awkward teenagers might not make it through this in one piece. It had been easy to channel his inner Kai while they were back in ninjago and act all cocky and confident, like nothing was wrong. But the farther from home they traveled, the less sure of himself, or their mission, he felt. The fact that he still wasn’t used to his mother’s somewhat smothering presence wasn’t helping. She was obviously trying, but her efforts couldn’t erase years of absence overnight (a fact he sometimes wondered if she realized). He wasn’t oblivious to the dark looks Kai and Nya had been shooting Misako whenever they felt she was overstepping unstated boundaries, either. If only their reunion could have been like Zane and Doctor Julien’s... 

“So,” Nya said, interrupting his thoughts as she finally managed to figure out where Lloyd had hidden himself away after dinner, “Today was kinda a lot, huh?” 

He grinned wearily at her as she joined him in the little tent he’d scrapped together where the sloped roof of the Bounty flattened into a platform like surface. 

“Yeah. Just, just a little.” the blonde agreed. He looked out over the darkening expanse of ocean, not quite sure what else to say. They sat there in silence, enjoying the temporary peace. 

“I, uh, just wanted to check on you. Make sure you weren’t too furious with Zane for almost getting himself killed out there today.” she explained, eventually, before wrapping herself in a spare blanket. Nya’s ability to sense when he needed someone to talk to never failed to amaze him. 

“Oh.” Lloyd replied softly, “I – yeah… that was… How does he do it?” 

“Do what?” Nya asked. 

“Just jump right into helping people, without worrying about his own wellbeing?” he clarified. 

“He’s Zane, built to protect those who can’t protect themselves. It’s just who he is. I’m not even sure he realized jumping into the ocean to save that leviathan was dangerous at the time…” She told him as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Lloyd looked over at her, quietly asking, “Nya? What would we have done if – if he didn’t…?” He cringed a little, not liking the way his voice cracked. She leaned against him, grounding him before he could allow himself to dwell on the what if’s for too long. 

“I dunno. I really don’t. But he’s still here. We all are. It’s gonna be okay.” 

“Yeah, but for how long?” he couldn’t help but mutter. Nya shifted sideways, regarding him for a moment before saying anything. 

“You’re worried about what happens when we reach the Dark Island.” she observed knowingly. The Green Ninja opened his mouth, shut it, and sighed. 

“I-I… it’s just… everything is happening so quickly now… we’ll be there by mid-day tomorrow and… I’m… not sure I’m ready for this… facing my dad? It scares me… I’m not brave like you, or Kai, or Zane… I’m just…. A scared kid in a teen’s body.” he stated in a small voice, turning away. Nya wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed them. 

“You know, sometimes I wonder how you can be so amazing at seeing the good in others, but totally miss it in yourself. You’re one of the bravest people I know, Lloyd.” 

“R-really?” Lloyd snorted wetly in disbelief. 

“Would I lie to you?” she retorted, booping his nose with affection and pulling some tissues out of her pocket. Yeah, she could definitely tell he’d been on the verge of crying. 

“Well... If you thought it’d make me happy...” he offered up lamely. The raven-haired girl shook her head in disbelief. 

“I guess you’ve got me all figured out, green bean.” she relented, marveling at how grown up her baby brother was becoming. Even if he didn’t recognize it yet. 

“But I’m serious. You really are an incredibly brave person. Who came to save us when everyone got captured by Pythor?” 

“I mean, I kinda got caught too, but, me.” Lloyd stated. 

“Who talked an entire school of future villains into embracing their inner light?” Nya continued. 

“Also me. Just not sure I’d call that brave.” he protested, making a face, not sure if he appreciated this trip down memory lane. 

“And who used the Tomorrow’s Tea to defeat the Grundle, knowing full well that it would have irreversible consequences for them?” she finished. Lloyd frowned. He’d rather not dwell on that decision. It had really done a number on him since. 

“That’s different..." 

“Is it, Lloyd? Because I don’t think you would’ve done any of those things if you weren’t at least a little brave.” 

“Okay. So maybe I am brave...” the blonde caved, deciding to let Nya win this one, “But that doesn’t change how terrified I am, Nya. What if I can’t do it? Mom says he’d never hurt me, and I don’t wanna hurt him, either...” he said, referring to his father, “But when it comes down to it, one of us is gonna have to hurt the other... I-I... we’re supposed to fight...” 

Nya listened to his ramblings with patience, waiting for him to trail off before she offered her own thoughts. 

“Remember what I told you when we first found out you were the Green Ninja?” 

“That.... you couldn’t wait to see Kai’s face when he realized I technically won the deal?” Lloyd recalled, looking a bit less troubled at the memory. 

“I wasn’t wrong. His reaction was priceless!” she laughed softly, “But what I meant was... Kai and I – we promised you wouldn’t be alone when the time came. We’re gonna do everything in our power to keep that promise. So, you don’t have to fake being okay just because you don’t wanna worry us.” 

“Pft... I definitely haven’t been doing that.” he deadpanned, knowing that to deny it would be a lost cause. His sister rolled her eyes at this. 

“You’re allowed to be scared and unsure. Just remember, you have an awful lot of people who’d do anything for you, no questions asked. Even if some of them are total idiots in how they go about showing it.” she reminded him. He put his head on her shoulder, comforted by her words. His family might not be experts when it came to acting responsibly, but he loved them just the same. 

“Definitely total idiots.” Lloyd agreed, laughing a little himself. Nya gave a contented sigh and let him snuggle against her. This conversation seemed to be just what he’d needed. She only wished it wasn’t necessary, that she could give him some assurance about how the prophesied battle would turn out okay because he was Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, the kid with a heart of gold and an incredible sort of light radiating off of him. But she wasn’t psychic. She didn’t want to make false promises or whitewash the danger they were in. So instead, she settled for, “Speaking of idiots, I can think of one who needs to be told a thing or two about jumping overboard with no warning and giving us all a heart attack.” 

“Wanna go yell at Zane?” the Green Ninja asked with a snort. 

“Do I ever!” Nya said, grinning wickedly. Together, they left the safety and seclusion of the rooftop tent in favor of locating the nindroid. As it turned out, they didn’t have to look for very long. The sound of laughter drew them to the kitchen; Zane had turned his humor switch on once again, much to the bemusement of his father. Obviously he’d ended up in good company. 

“Oh, Zane...” the samurai sang sweetly as she and Lloyd entered the room. 

“Yes, Nya?” he answered, reverting back to his usual self. Nya took a big breath before laying into him. 

“Do you have any idea how DANGEROUS it was to jump overboard like that?! You could’ve gotten yourself killed! Are you trying to traumatize Lloyd?!” 

“Yep, I’m definitely traumatized now,” Lloyd joined in, showing no mercy. Dr. Julien followed the tirade with amusement. His poor son seemed to be at a loss for words. 

“But I... We... Sorry?” Zane protested weakly. He rushed over to Lloyd. He seemed.... Fine? There were no visible signs of emotional scarring? 

“Promise me you’ll never do something like that again?” Lloyd begged, giving him his best puppy dog eyes. 

“You know I am unable to completely guarantee anything, as it is my duty to protect you and others, but... I shall do my best.” he told them. Having weaseled out this assurance, Nya decided that it was time for them to stop pestering Zane over his questionable life choices. 

“We’re glad you’re okay.” she stated, smiling at the nindroid to make sure he knew they weren’t too terribly upset with him.   
“So am I.” he replied. Lloyd hugged him tightly, catching him a little off guard, but he didn’t mind. Tomorrow they would reach the dark island. The future was unpredictable, but for tonight, everyone was safe and sound.


	15. Chapter 15

“This feels… weird…” Lloyd commented absently, digging his toes into the sand. Kai gave his brother an odd look. 

“The sand feels weird?” 

“No. This. Being here, at the beach to relax without the threat of an evil warlord bent on world domination looming over us?” he explained, tilting his face toward the sun and enjoying its warmth. Nya slung an arm around his shoulders. 

“After everything you’ve been through, you’ve earned it, Lloyd. Taking today to chill and have fun is exactly what you need! And just look how happy your dad is.” she told him, watching as the former villain helped his wife spread out a picnic blanket not far away. The sound of laughter floated over to them. Lloyd grinned. 

“I wasn’t sure, at first. If they were gonna figure stuff out. You know?” he admitted hesitantly, “But they’ve both been really great about it so far.” 

Kai gave his hair a ruffle and said, “I’m really happy for you, green bean.” 

“Me too,” Nya agreed, “now let’s get over there and join the others before Cole completely buries Jay.” 

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Lloyd noted with a laugh. The two ninja in question were throwing sand at each other with gusto. The buckets they had brought for sand castles had been long forgotten. He followed Kai and Nya as they approached them, ignoring his slight limp. The lingering effects of his injuries made it difficult to completely forget the events leading up to this moment, but he was happy to put the memories out of his mind for now. 

“Do I even want to know what’s happening right now? I thought you were gonna make a scale model of the city.” asked Nya as she ducked a wayward clump of wet sand. Jay gave her a look that clearly meant save me. 

“We were. But dirt clod over here decided it’d be funny to bury me instead…” he complained. 

“So I know this looks bad but-” Cole began to protest before Kai interrupted him. 

“Nah, I can definitely see the appeal in torturing Jay.” 

“Hey!” the master of lightning glared at Kai, “not helping.” 

“Listen. You know those pictures where people bury their legs in sand and make it look like they have mermaid tails and stuff? I was just thinking it’d be funny to take one of those and send it to Zane.” Cole explained, resisting the urge to toss more sand at his best friend. They had all been a bit disappointed that their nindroid brother couldn’t wouldn’t be joining them til later in the day, but they understood his desire to spend as much time as possible with his father. There was no way of knowing how much longer they had. Lloyd’s eyes lit up. 

“Oh, that does sound like fun!” 

“Okay but I don’t see why I have to be the mermaid,” Jay said, giving Cole a dirty look, “Nya’s like, way prettier.” 

“Um… thank you?” she replied. Her cheeks flushed slightly at his awkward compliment. 

“Well, I mean, your hair could almost pass for red in this light.” Cole offered. 

“And you did grow up in a junkyard. I’m sure you do have whozits and whatzits galore lying around.” Nya added. 

“And thingamabobs. He’s definitely got at least twenty of those.” Lloyd joined in with glee. 

“But who cares. No big deal. He wants mooore.” Kai began to sing. He wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity to mess with Jay. 

“Jay wants to be where the people are. Jay wants to see, wants to see them dancing,” the others joined in loudly and more than a little off key, “Walkin' around on those, Whad'ya call 'em?” 

“Oh, feet!” Nya practically shouted. Jay shook his head in resignation. His family had become far too invested in this for his liking. 

“O-okay fine. I’ll do it. But only if you stop singing about me like that.” 

“Thanks for being such a good sport, buddy.” Cole told him, slapping his back. He sighed and then plopped himself down on a particularly nice-looking patch of sand. 

“Well, might as well get comfortable, I guess. I expect to look fabulous by the time this is over.” the master of lightning joked, already scooping up whatever sand was within arm’s reach. 

“Oh, don’t worry. You will.” his girlfriend promised. Lloyd nodded enthusiastically. 

“We got you covered.” he declared before grabbing a bucket and wandering off in search of seashells to decorate with. This beach was much nicer than the one on the island. He hadn’t enjoyed that experience very much; it had been gloomy and cold and had quite honestly been full of traumatizing experiences. But here there was sun, and warmth and pretty shells, and sea glass that had washed up with the tide. It was peaceful. Lloyd found himself wishing they’d done this sooner. His parents probably weren’t going to appreciate all his newfound treasures, though. Most of the things he’d put in his bucket were not going to be donated to Jay’s new look. He smiled with delight, spotting another sand dollar to add to his collection. 

“Yo, Lloyd, get your butt over here.” the Green Ninja heard Kai shouting in the distance. He pocketed it and trotted back to the others. They had managed to completely bury Jay’s legs while he was gone and now Cole was carving a scaly design into the sand-tail. 

“Oh, yes. These will work great!” Nya exclaimed, rooting through his Lloyd’s bucket. He snatched away some of his more precious finds before she could claim them for Jay. 

“Betcha I could help you make a lanyard with one of these pieces of sea glass later, if you want? I saw a tutorial on Ninterest that looked cool.” she offered. Lloyd considered this for a moment. It would make a nice gift for his mother – a peace offering to show that he was doing his best to let go of their rocky past. 

“Sure, that’d be neat.” he agreed. 

“Okay, you two. Show me the goods. I get full veto power on anything that isn’t mermaidy enough.” Jay told them, doing his best to hold still so he wouldn’t disturb the sand piled on his legs. 

“Is that even a word?” Kai wondered. The master of lightning gave him a look. 

“It is now. I’m a mermaid so I would know.” 

Nya rolled her eyes and held up one of the shells she’d snagged from Lloyd. 

“Whaddya think, Ariel, is this one a keeper?” she asked her boyfriend. He examined it carefully. 

“Ooh yeah, I like it.” he replied. 

“What about…” Lloyd took his time choosing another shell, “This one? “ 

“Nah, that one has a piece chipped off, see? Mermaid princesses don’t wear chipped shells.” 

“More for me, then.” Lloyd shrugged, happy to return the shell to his collection. They cycled through more shells and eventually they began to run out of places to put them. 

“Please tell me that was the last of them? If we add any more shells, Jay’s gonna start looking tacky.” said Cole. 

“It is. Unless you wanna fight Lloyd to the death for his ‘favorites’ or something.” Nya assured him. 

“I just think they’re cool, okay?” Lloyd defended, pulling the bucket closer. 

“How about we take that picture, now.” Kai suggested gently. Jay nodded in agreement. He was starting to lose feeling in his feet. 

“Please. As fun as this has been, I can’t hold still much longer.” 

They called Garmadon, who wisely refrained from asking questions, over to take the picture for them on Cole’s phone. He waited patiently as they arranged themselves so that everyone was visible, the sight of his son so happy making it all worthwhile. Once everyone was in position (which was an adventure in itself), they smiled brightly while the former warlord snapped several pictures. 

“Thank you,” Cole said as he took his phone back from Garmadon and flipped through the images, “guys! These are gold!” 

The others crowded around so they could see too. Nya turned to Jay, who was still half buried, and offered her hands. 

“Want some help up?” she asked. 

“Sure,” he grinned, wanting to see himself in all his mermaid glory before Cole sent the picture to Zane. The master of lightning grabbed his girlfriend’s hands and prepared to be launched from his sandy prison. Unfortunately for both of them, Nya yanked a bit too hard. They both ended up sprawled on the sand, prompting Cole to take even more pictures. Kai and Lloyd snickered as the two struggled to disentangle themselves. 

“You better not post those on Chirp.” Nya muttered. The master of earth shrugged in a way that made it clear he planned to do exactly that the first chance he got. 

“Alright, lemme see.” Jay demanded once he was back on his feet. Cole tossed him his phone. He smiled broadly when he saw the results of his mermaidy suffering. 

“Oh, yes. I can’t wait to see Zane’s reaction to this.” 

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could do with a bit less sand covering my entire body. I’m gonna go rinse off.” Nya declared, heading for the water. Lloyd watched absently as she, Jay, and Cole raced towards the waves after sending Zane a copy of their shenanigans. Kai stood next to him. He didn’t seem interested in joining the others. 

“You’re not gonna go swimming?” Lloyd asked. 

“Nah. Water’s not really my thing. And besides. You look like you’ve got something on your mind.” Kai told him. 

“I’m just… wondering what happens next, that’s all.” Lloyd explained. Kai regarded him carefully for a moment before responding. There were a lot of unknowns now that the world was beginning to return to normal. But that didn’t mean Lloyd should be stressing out about the future. So Kai settled for something simple. 

“You get to be a kid, Lloyd. You go home and find a good hiding place for all that stuff you’ve got in your bucket. You spend time with your parents and stay up way too late reading comic books,” his brother cracked a grin at this, “Maybe even get Nya to help you with your multiplication tables so you can stop counting on your fingers – don’t think I haven’t noticed that. But at the end of the day, whatever you decide, it’s your choice. I know eventually Master Wu will have stuff for you to do, but in the meantime? Just be a kid, okay? You deserve that much.” 

“O-okay. I think I can do that.” Lloyd decided. He hadn’t exactly gotten to just be a kid lately. It sounded… nice. 

“Good.” Kai told him, ruffling his hair. 

“Thanks.” he replied, giving the older boy a hug. Returning it, Kai said, “It’s what big brothers do, green bean.” 

They stood there in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the peacefulness of the afternoon. The sound of Nya screeching as Jay dunked her could be heard in the distance, bringing them back to reality. 

“You sure you don’t wanna go in the water?” Lloyd broke the silence. 

“Would… would you believe me if I told you I can’t swim?” Kai admitted, looking sheepish. Lloyd stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was lying. 

“You do realize you were the first to suggest swimming back to ninjago when we got stuck on the island, right?” he said at last. 

“I… yes that is true…” the master of fire stated. Lloyd smacked him. 

“Dude, you need serious help. You could’ve died.” he exclaimed. 

Kai held up his hands in surrender. 

“I know, I know. Getting myself killed would’ve been a dumb move.” 

“The dumbest,” Lloyd agreed, dragging him towards the water, “but you’re at least gonna come put your feet in. And we are so revisiting this later.” 

“Okay, but I take no responsibility for any splashing that might happen as a result of your pestering.” joked Kai, giving in to Lloyd’s demands with little protest. After all, the sun was bright and the water was cool, and in this moment, the world was at peace. Whatever the future held could wait.


	16. Nya Wins an All Expense Paid Trip to the Hospital (and gives everyone else a heart attack)

Nya glared at the stack of worksheets in front of her as though it would magically grade them for her. After the day she’d had, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know if any of her students had bothered to learn anything. Sneaking off to her room to curl up into a ball with her heat pad and sleep sounded much more appealing. 

“C’mon Aaron,” she muttered as she examined the paper at the top of the stack, only to discover that the student in question had dotted his eyes with hearts in a very uncharacteristic way, “if you’re gonna copy off of Sally, at least be subtle about it.” 

They’d have to have another discussion about the evils of cheating. Not that it would do any good. Before meeting the students that currently roamed the halls of Master Wu’s Academy, Nya and the others had occasionally referred to Lloyd as demon spawn. But now? He was more like an angel compared to the hooligans she was expected to put up with each and every day. She sighed and set the worksheet aside to deal with later. The next one was no better; it was covered with doodles of wine glasses. 

“Really, Megan? Again?” 

These children almost made her wish she were old enough to drink actual wine. Maybe it would help with the headache grading these worksheets was giving her. And the stabbing pain that had been plaguing her side since early that morning. She was going to have to find some midol, soon, if it didn’t let up. It had been difficult to survive a full day of teaching like this. And the worst part was that none of her usual strategies for dealing with cramps seemed to be helping. 

“Nya?” someone called as they knocked on the door to her classroom. She got up from her desk, grimacing as pain shot through her side once again. 

“I’m coming!” she called back. Nya opened the door to find her brother waiting outside. 

“Heya, sis. Just wanted to check in on you. Jay said you skipped out on your lunch date earlier…” Kai explained with a quizzical expression. 

“Of course he did.” she said in annoyance. He frowned. 

“Everything okay between you?” he asked after a moment. 

“Just peachy.” she replied through gritted teeth. Why couldn’t Jay keep his mouth shut? 

“Nya… are you sure you’re okay?” Kai pressed, “It’s not like you to skip meals…” 

“I’m just… tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night and it’s been a long day. That’s all.” she told him, doing her best to shoot him a weak smile. There was no need to worry him by mentioning her abnormally bad stomach pain. Everyone would make a huge fuss and all she really wanted was some peace and quiet. 

“It’s almost dinner time. Why don’t you take a break from grading and come grab a bite to eat? You’re looking a little pale.” suggested Kai. He looked at her searchingly, still not completely convinced she was alright. 

“Okay. I guess that would probably be a good idea.” Nya agreed. Maybe some food would help her feel better. She hadn’t had anything to eat other than the granola bar she’d choked down at breakfast; lunch had been forgone in favor of a nap that had ultimately done absolutely nothing to improve her state. She followed Kai down the hall that lead to the cafeteria, doing her best to distract herself by telling him about Aaron’s latest attempt at cheating. 

“Don’t take it too personally, sis,” Kai told her supportively, “these kids are really rough around the edges. It’s hard to teach someone who flat out doesn’t wanna learn anything.” 

“I know. I just wish they’d listen to me better.” Nya commented, pushing the door to the cafeteria open. A wave of nausea hit her as she stepped inside. The smell was too much for her. She swayed uncertainly for a moment before shaking it off and heading over to the counter where the food was served. Kai, who was waving to a few of their more tolerable students, didn’t seem to notice. They each grabbed a plate and piled it with macaroni and cheese along with freshly steamed broccoli before slipping off to the teacher’s lounge so they could eat in peace. 

“I’m telling you, the kid’s a psychopath in the making. Something about him is not normal.” Jay was insisting when they arrived. 

“I can’t argue with you, there, but at least he doesn’t think you’re boring,” Cole countered, “if he decides to kill all of us in our sleep, he’ll probably come after me first.” 

“Well, this is a great conversation to walk into.” Kai commented with a wry grin. 

“Hello!” Zane greeted brightly. 

“We’re commiserating over Finn again, I see.” Nya observed, delicately seating herself on an unoccupied couch. It was a relief to sit down again. 

“Yup.” Cole confirmed. 

“What did he do this time?” she asked. She took a small bite of her food as Jay launched into his overzealous storytelling, but regretted it almost instantly. Her stomach rebelled and she felt another wave of pain wrack her body. What was wrong with her? Was this what dying felt like? She set her plate aside and curled into herself. The room was suddenly too hot, the sound of the others talking too loud. She felt like she was on the verge of throwing up. 

“Nya? You’re not looking so good…” Jay’s voice floated through her pain filled haze. 

“It’s j-just girl issues…” she gasped out, “please just let me die in peace…” 

The others exchanged worried looks. Zane came over and put a hand to her forehead. 

“A fever would not be consistent with ‘girl problems’ as you put it.” he told her. 

“Fever?” she repeated. This was news to her. He nodded, saying, 

“Your temperature is currently 101.4 degrees Fahrenheit.” 

“Oh.” 

“Nya, are you able to hop on one foot?” the nindroid asked. Nya glared at him in confusion. 

“What? Why would you ask that? It’s stupid! You’re stupid.” 

She paused when she realized what she’d just said. 

“Oh, Zane, I’m sorry… that wasn’t-” 

“Please try. I promise there’s a good reason for this.” Zane insisted. She stared at him without responding for a moment. Trying to do as he suggested was only going to make things worse. He stared back, unrelenting, as if he knew something she didn’t. Finally, Nya gave in and pushed herself up with great effort. Still not fully buying into whatever Zane was pulling, she gave a half-hearted attempt at hopping on her right foot. 

“I can’t,” she cried agonizedly, collapsing back onto the couch, “fsm it hurts…” 

Zane didn’t seem surprised by this revelation. 

“I believe it would be wise to get you to the hospital. Your appendix appears to be on the verge of rupturing.” he announced. For the first time in a long time, Nya heard her brother swear loudly.   
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Epic Ninja Family Group Chat 

Jay: Hey, Greenie! Just wanted to let you know that we’re taking Nya to the HOSPITAL!!!! 

Jay: She’s in SURGERY now. 

Jay: Pick up your hecking phone, man. 

Jay: This is getting ridiculous… where ARE you??????? 

Jay: L l o y d 

Jay:??????   
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Lloyd reread the series of text messages Jay had sent him for what must have been at least the 15th time. It was clear the master of lightning had panicked when he didn’t immediately respond. Or, more likely, had panicked more. Not that Lloyd could blame him. The fact that he was the only one who had been invited to go on this victory tour already hurt enough without the added guilt of not being there for his family when they needed him. He’d been attending a ceremony in a town he had never heard of before when Jay had first started texting him. He hadn’t even heard his phone go off, hadn’t seen the messages until much later. Of course, he had immediately summoned his golden dragon and headed for Ninjago City when he did see them, but that didn’t change the fact that he should’ve been there all along. So he did what any reasonable person would do and stopped for something with which to bribe-and-or cheer up his siblings with before heading to the hospital itself. 

The cashier of the little gas station Lloyd had stopped at finished ringing up his purchase with a yawn. The green ninja pocketed his phone and paid for the assortment of candy and frosted sugar cookies, along with the little stuffed narwhal he couldn’t bear to leave behind, wondering if Kai was ever going to get back to him with more details. The radio silence was a bit concerning; he wanted to know what to expect before he arrived at the hospital. If things were bad as bad as Jay made them out to be, if Nya was dying or something… but surely he was just being overdramatic… right? His pocket buzzed as he stepped out onto the empty sidewalk. A lone car drove by. A cat meowed in the distance. Lloyd glanced at his phone once more, unable to handle the suspense.   
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kai: She’s out of surgery and recovering now. Visiting hours are over, but I’m sure she’d love to see you. Rm 246. Eastern wing.   
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the message. Nya wasn’t dead after all. That was promising. Now he just had to find his way to the hospital. According to the GPS app on his phone, it shouldn’t be more than a few minutes away. Lloyd summoned his golden dragon and shot into the sky once more. It was much easier to navigate when one could simply fly over the houses and buildings that lined the streets of the city. He flew towards the hospital, his phone blaring warnings at him as it tried to keep up with his unusual route. Make a U-turn when possible, it beeped every so often. But he ignored it. Soon, his destination loomed in the distance. 

Lloyd circled the building until he was on the correct side. Kai hadn’t given him any suggestions on how exactly he was supposed to get inside without the nursing staff kicking him out. Even the Green Ninja would be expected to adhere to hospital regulations. Had he assumed that Lloyd would just sneak in somehow? He absent-mindedly scanned the windows of the hospital while he tried to decide what to do next. And then he saw it; someone had taped what appeared to be a green piece of paper onto one of the panes. Kai did want him to sneak in, apparently. He flew closer so that he could examine the window more carefully. It was cracked open slightly. Shaking his head at his brother’s questionable plan, Lloyd opened the window the rest of the way. Being that it was some time after 11:00, the hospital room was pitch black. He stumbled as he climbed inside, unable to see clearly. 

“Well, now… which of my idiot siblings decided to add breaking and entering to their list of crimes against humanity?” Lloyd heard Nya murmur sleepily. He froze. 

“It’s um, Lloyd.” he replied. There was a small click and a dim light turned on. 

“Lloyd? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be off on your victory tour…” she began to protest, now that she could see that the intruder was in fact who he said he was. “Did Kai put you up to this?” 

“In his defense, there’s no way to prove that window was left open intentionally.” Lloyd pointed out, with a small smile. He made his way over to her bed and sat in the empty chair next to it. She rolled her eyes, but returned his smile with a tired one of her own. 

“It is good to see you.” Nya admitted, raising an eyebrow as she glanced at the grocery bags he was sporting. 

“It’s good to see you, too. Oh, here. Got something for you!” he pulled out the stuffed narwhal and set it on the bed next to her. 

“You know, you might just be my favorite person ever.” Nya decided, examining it. She hugged it close, looking years younger than she actually was. 

“You mean I wasn’t already?” Lloyd pretended to be offended. She stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” she retorted with a laugh. Although she was clearly trying to hide it, he couldn’t help but notice her wincing as she did so. 

“So, what happened?” he asked eventually, “I had my phone on silent for a few hours and when I finally had a chance to check it, Jay was acting like you were dying…” 

“Ehhh turns out that it wasn’t super bad cramps that had been bugging me all day; it was appendicitis,” stated Nya, sounding as though she were tired of having to explain this, “Everyone overreacted. I’m fine, I swear. It’s not a big deal-” 

“Not a big deal, huh? You scare me sometimes, Nya.” Lloyd muttered. He shook his head in bemusement. 

“Hm?” 

“I don’t think anyone else could be in that much pain and think ‘yeah, this is fine’.” he explained, wondering how on earth she had lasted more than a few hours before finally succumbing to the pain. 

“Says the boy who walked off a broken leg.” she said pointedly. 

“That’s different. I only did that because I was more worried about how I was going to fight my father.” he reminded her. There really hadn’t been another option. Well, aside from giving up and dying, he supposed. Nya didn’t seem to think this was a very convincing argument. 

“And I was more worried about getting today’s worksheets graded so I could figure out how to put the kibosh on all the cheating that’s been happening lately.” she told him without missing a beat. Lloyd raised an eyebrow and asked, 

“That bad?” 

Nya nodded and made a face. 

“Honestly. And if it’s not cheating, it’s weird drawings. Oh, if I was gonna be the first member of the group to be hospitalized, why count it have been for something exciting?” she complained. He chose not to point out that her definition of exciting probably differed from most other people’s. Or that there had been plenty of times that Kai, Jay, and even Cole should have ended up in the hospital, but didn’t. 

“For the record, when we agreed to having lots of adventures, this isn’t what I pictured.” Lloyd offered wryly. He thought back to his first night on the Destiny’s Bounty. Things had been so different, then. Neither of them had known what the future held. 

“Well, it’s good to know you haven’t been plotting against me this whole time.” teased Nya, biting back a yawn. He could tell her energy was beginning to wane. 

“Maybe I should let you sleep… sounds like it’s been a really long day for you.” he suggested. Now that he knew she was okay, he wanted her to stay that way. And that meant cutting their reunion short so she could get some rest. 

“Unfortunately, you’re right… It definitely has,” she agreed, “But Lloyd? Thank you. For coming. I’ve missed you.” 

“Of course, Nya. It turns out traveling around Ninjago like this gets pretty lonely after awhile...” said Lloyd, wishing he’d been able to visit sooner. He missed being able to see his family whenever he wanted. Missed being a part of the action. Nya nodded sagely. 

“I’m sure it does. You got a place to stay, or should we call Kai to come pick you up?” 

“Let’s call Kai. I… didn’t exactly plan out what was gonna happen after I got here.” he admitted. He pulled out his phone. 

“I guess you don’t know how long you’re staying, then?” she asked, seeming a little disappointed. Lloyd shrugged. Oh, how he wanted to give up his victory tour and stay as long as he liked. But somehow, he doubted his uncle or the people of Ninjago would think very highly of him evading his commitments like that. 

“I dunno. I guess it couldn’t hurt to stay a few days. Just to make sure you’re okay?” he answered after a moments consideration. It would take a bunch of phone calls and rearranging of his schedule tomorrow morning, but it was doable. After all, now that he was here, there was no point in leaving too quickly. Staying the weekend would give him plenty of time catch up with Kai and the others. The more he thought about his decision, the more certain Lloyd became that it was the right call. The feeling of homesickness he’d been fighting since leaving his family was already beginning to fade away as he realized just how badly he’d needed to be home again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! As per usual, it's been awhile since my last chapter update. It's been an interesting summer, but I'm on vacation right now and it's given me some much needed time to just sit and write. This chapter is one of my shorter ones, but there simply wasn't anything else to tell. It takes place the morning after Lloyd visits Nya in the hospital and features the appearance of a very important, but unexpected guest! Thank you for your ongoing support and patience! Hope you enjoy!

Lloyd awoke to the all too familiar sensation of having absolutely no idea where he was. Over the past few months, he'd stayed more places than he could count on both hands, and the chaotic travel regime often messed with his head. Of course, it wasn't very long before the memories of his frantic flight to the Ninjago City Hospital came flooding back to him and the slight panic dissipated. It must have been close to 2 in the morning by the time Kai and the others had managed to get the guest room in the teacher's wing ready for him the previous night, and then Jay had tried to convince him to stay awake so they could catch up, but his exhaustion ultimately won out. Still, he had to admit that being here with his siblings nearby already felt so much better than being off preparing to meet with another stuffy town leader or dignitary. Why had he ever agreed to that stupid victory tour? The sound of his stomach growling prevented Lloyd from continuing this train of thought. Better find something to eat. He stepped out into the hallway, bracing himself for the chaotic whirlwind of energy that usually accompanied his fellow ninja. However, he was met with silence. Glancing about, he quickly located a note that had been taped to his door.

"Lloyd, we decided to let you sleep in. We'll be down in the cafeteria waiting for you whenever you decide to wake up."

-Kai

"Guess I'll have to navigate on my own…" Lloyd muttered. The time alone would give him some time to process the fact that this was his first time visiting his old school in its current rendition. Had Nya already been home from the hospital, it would've been easier to pretend as though the school hadn't been the very one his mother had left him at when he was barely more than a toddler. The one that had been the source of so much pain for him before he'd ultimately been kicked out. Hopefully the name change and inclusion of the ninja as teachers had been cause for some improvements, but Lloyd still had plenty of reservations.

He wandered down the hallway, trying to remember exactly where the exit to the teacher's wing was. After a few wrong turns, he finally ended up at a door that appeared to lead to the courtyard. Lloyd stepped outside. It looked similar to the last time he'd visited, during that disastrous run in with the evil clones, except it was brighter, happier. The students who populated the courtyard were playing nice, relatively non violent games, or visiting quietly with each other. It was surprisingly peaceful. In the distance, he could see the freshly painted sign that marked the entrance. Much more welcoming than before. He turned to the left, heading for the cafeteria, trying not to let too many memories take hold of him as he wandered about. He cringed a little as he passed the tree he'd fallen out of and broken his wrist while trying to hide from Gene and the others. Even his favorite hiding place hadn't been enough to save him that day. Lloyd shook his head. No use dwelling on the past.

"Um, excuse me," a small voice piped up from behind him, "but you're about to step on my hydrangeas."

The Green Ninja froze and looked down. Sure enough, there was a pot of hydrangeas just waiting to be planted along the edge of the walkway.

"Oh. Sorry! I was just…" he turned to apologize, but his breath caught in his throat when he recognized the small form behind him.

"Brad?!" Lloyd choked out at the same time as Brad exclaimed, "Lloyd?!"

They stared at each other for a moment. Lloyd hadn't even considered that being here meant he could easily run into one of his old classmates. He had no idea how to respond to this sudden reunion. Sure, they had parted ways amicably last time, but a lot had changed since then. Lloyd had changed, even if it was mostly his appearance.

"I…" he began awkwardly. Brad seemed no better prepared to process this turn of events.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with the delicacy of a cat coughing up a hairball.

"Nya." Answered Lloyd, whose brain was suddenly only capable of one word responses.

"Oh. Right. Mr. Cole said she was fine and that Mr. Jay was just being a drama queen when he said she might die, but he didn't mention anything about you…" Brad offered flushing slightly.

"I, uh, got here really late last night." Lloyd explained. The smaller boy nodded.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They both just kind of stood there, not saying anything, for what felt like an eternity. Had they really already run out of things to say?

"Do… do you have anywhere you need to be?" Brad asked, finally. Lloyd shrugged.

"Breakfast. Eventually. Why?"

Brad returned his shrug.

"Dunno. Guess I was thinking maybe we could climb the tree. For old times sake?" he suggested, looking surprisingly vulnerable. Lloyd wasn't entirely sure what the boy was really going for with this idea, but something inside of him desperately wanted to temporarily ignore the call of food. To pretend he was just a normal kid with a normal life, instead of an ageless war hero. And so, he decided that a few minutes hanging from the branches of a tree wouldn't hurt anything.

"Okay." Said Lloyd, surprising Brad.

The branches were much easier to reach now that Lloyd was taller. One of the few good things to come from that change, he supposed. He followed Brad up into the canopy of the tree, where the leaves created a delicate wall separating them from the outside world. They each claimed a branch, and sat, staring at each other.

"So. It's been awhile." Brad spoke first. Lloyd appreciated his efforts.

"It has," he agreed.

"You're way taller now." Observed Brad. Lloyd had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He'd resigned himself to the comments about his height a long time ago, but the reminder still stung more than it should have.

"I am."

"Do you have any idea how weird it is to be the shortest in class now?" Brad asked abruptly.

"You… you're- you're the shortest?" Lloyd snorted. It was strange how easily their interaction had spiraled into something more familiar, less awkward.

"Yep," the dark hair boy bemoaned, "Even Sally's taller than me now. Mr. Zane says that'll change when I hit pooburty, but I'm not so sure I believe him."

"I mean, Zane's pretty much right about everything, so don't give up hope yet, I guess?" Lloyd offered, smiling lopsidedly at his mispronunciation of puberty (a word that had been explained to him following the tea incident).

"I won't." Brad decided. He plucked a leaf and watched it flutter to the ground below. They fell into another, more comfortable, silence.

"So." Lloyd said after awhile, trying to strike up another conversation.

"So. I… I should probably thank you. And apologize." Brad stated, sounding more serious than before. Lloyd frowned and asked, "For what?".

"Thank you for what you did when you visited last time – showing all of us that we didn't have to be bad like everyone expected us to," Brad told him, "and I wanna apologize because you should never have had to put up with everything I've done to you. I know it wasn't- I wasn't nice to you at all. And that sucks because you were my friend, and friends shouldn't be so horrible to each other." He finished, looking sad. Lloyd had never expected to get closure from anyone who had been a part of his experience at Darkley's, not really. All the hurt and fear had started to dull after so many months away, and he had been fine with that. It was easier to just try to move on and forget. So the apology struck him harder than he would have expected. He brushed a quick hand over his eyes (which were suddenly damper than they should have been) and scrambled to find the right words.

"Oh. I didn't even know if that would work, but I'm glad it did. Everyone deserves to be shown their inner light. And yeah, it does suck that things were like that, I'm not gonna lie. But it's not like we were taught any better. It's a learning curve – that whole being nice to other people thing."

"I… it's changed a lot for me. I never… I never thought I'd want to do better. But I do. I wanna be the kind of person you are – to help people and make them happy. And my dad, um, finally got arrested. So I'll be living with my grandparents after the term is over. They're really excited to have me. It feels so good to be wanted." Brad told him, brightening. The boy had rarely mentioned his parents, but Lloyd had always known they weren't really… present in his life. Or good people. It warmed his heart to see Brad flourishing like this.

"Well, congratulations on your new life, then!" Lloyd said, genuinely happy for his… friend. Yes, they were still friends, deep down. Beneath the regret of past mistakes. Beneath the awkwardness of one of them having grown up a bit more quickly than planned.

"Lloyd? I'm really glad we bumped into each other. I wasn't sure this was a good idea but… it was." Brad said with a grin, clearly appreciating Lloyd's encouragement. They had both needed this conversation.

"Me too, Brad. It's been… nice." Lloyd agreed. The others were probably looking for him by now, but he couldn't bring himself to care. They would, as always, find him eventually with those ninja senses of theirs. And they would, of course, be eager to catch up with him themselves, and he them. For now, however, Lloyd was content to stay here in this tree, an old friend by his side.


End file.
